Jennifer Craw and the Distaff of Disruption 23
by Doublequill
Summary: The Order of Owls get involved with a mystery involving a missing artifact in an attempt to cull multiple predictions of an impending rebellion.
1. Snow

_A/N Welcome Back, readers, to this the ninth book in the Heritage series. If you haven't seen any of my books before, it begins with Jennifer Craw and the Phoenix Wand, which is alternate HP books 5,6, and 7... written before those books came out. For those of you returning, this book is a bit odd in that it's starting at Christmas, continuing just a few months after we left off in JC and the Servant of Danaan, and is mostly centered around the Order of the Owls, who have changed somewhat while Andrew was away. I'm not going to set a time schedule on this one since I'm back to school in a month, so you may want to sign up for notifications either here or on twitter if you want to know when chapters go up. I'm also hoping to give myself enough time to start on covers for the books and also to upload fixes to books from the Headmaster Chronicles on (the three short stories) and will also let you know when those go up. Happy Potter day, and Happy Christmas in July... and here you go!_

Chapter One

Snow

The snow began late the night before. It was still light and soft the next morning, but there was a great deal more to come, that much Mercy was sure of. She shivered from the chill surface of the frosty windows, smiling happily as she swiftly cleaned them and dusted the drapes. She loved the holidays when family was home, and that Yule was bound to be a busy and exciting one. Andrew had already gotten up, had his tea, and had left to run errands, but there was no doubt that Jennifer was likely to be the next one awake.

"Darcy, see to the fireplaces! The mistress will be up soon," Mercy told the other House Elf helping her clean the living room. She pulled the drapes back tightly, knowing that Jennifer would want to look out at the weather, and then went to the kitchen to clean the window there.

It wasn't long before Jennifer came in, already dressed for the day and wide awake despite having not had her first cup of coffee yet.

"Mercy, are you about?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, mistress," Mercy said, immediately appearing next to the curtains she had just pulled back.

"Where is that special blend of coffee that Sally gave me? Surely I still have some left for today," Jennifer said, searching the cabinets. Instantly, it appeared on the counter. "Thank you very much! Is Francie here today?"

"I'm here!" Francie suddenly appeared on one of the stools, beaming at them.

"Francie! You are still in your Hogwarts clothes!" Mercy scolded her, pointing accusingly at her chef's outfit with her name embroidered on it.

"It's all right, Mercy, she can wear it if she likes. You know, perhaps we should get you a uniform as well," Jennifer pondered thoughtfully. Mercy gasped.

"Mercy doesn't need a uniform! Mercy has a button!" Mercy protested.

"Yes, but wouldn't you like a nice dress? I could make some myself if you like, in fact, that'd be rather fun. I haven't attempted any sewing in quite some time, really," Jennifer admitted.

"No. Mercy has a button," Mercy said insistently.

"Mumsy doesn't understand, Mistress. Mumsy won't have to leave if Mumsy has a dress. Francie didn't have to leave Hogwarts, Mumsy. And Francie chooses to go where Master Severus goes. It didn't change Francie."

"Francie has a uniform to protect Hogwarts against bad Elves like Mopers. He can not get in here any more. Mercy doesn't need a uniform," Mercy argued then looked towards the hallway, growing more alert.

Severus stepped in, looking between them questioningly.

"Giving it another go, are we?" Severus inquired.

"It is not going well, Master Severus," Francie admitted. "Mumsy thinks she doesn't need a uniform for house security, sir."

"It is true that is why all of the Hogwarts House Elves have uniforms now," Severus said, sitting at the bar and tapping at the bag of coffee pointedly. Jennifer smiled and poured it into the grinder. "But the truth of the matter is that all the House Elves at Hogwarts were freed years ago, even before I became I became Headmaster. Did you know that?"

"Yes, Master Severus. It was because of Professor Weasley," Mercy said solemnly.

"When Albus came to her and offered her the position of Deputy Headmaster, Hermione made it a condition of the job that he would free all the House Elves and that they be paid a fair wage equal to what anyone else would if they had the same jobs. How he snuck that into the budget, I have no idea. I had my hands full with other problems when all of this occurred, such as spending time in jail," Severus recalled. Jennifer smiled sheepishly at that. "I didn't even know they were on the payroll until I took over as Headmaster, and since it all was said and done with by that point and everything was running smoothly, there was no reason to question it. I do admit that the fact they were already freed made it much easier to convince them to wear uniforms after the castle breach. None of the current House Elf staff wants another occurrence of a House Elf getting in that doesn't belong any more than I do."

"Mercy does not want that either, but that does not have anything to do with Mercy," Mercy said firmly. "Mercy will not allow it to happen again in the house, sir."

"Of course you won't, Mercy," Jennifer said. "But what Francie said is right too. You can have a uniform and still stay with us as long as you like. Accepting clothes doesn't mean you can't stay. Honestly, you've always been like one of the family to us, you know that. I can even make your wall button a part of your dress if you want."

"Mercy is happy with what I have now, Mistress," Mercy said firmly.

"Jennifer," Severus interrupted. Jennifer looked over with a frown. "It is still her choice." Jennifer sighed at that, understanding both what he said and didn't say with a simple glance.

"Yes, you're right, I suppose," Jennifer said. "Although it would have been rather fun to make outfits in that size." Severus rolled his eyes at that. "Are you going to help me with the baskets today, Severus?"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of other volunteers for that. Besides, Ginger is coming over in a few minutes to have our chat. I believe I'll take my coffee to the library," Severus decided.

"I'll bring up your tray, sir," Francie said, disappearing, and Severus wandered back out again.

"Will there be anything else, Mistress? Breakfast?"

"Yes, we should start on that, but since we're going to have company early, I'll have Francie make up a large batch of scones for everyone that comes in. Could you wake up Leu and have Andrew bring Quintin down?" Jennifer asked.

"Master Andrew has gone to run errands in Hogsmeade, mistress," Mercy said, fading away.

"Oh, yes, that's right! Well, I'm sure Leu can manage," Jennifer decided and began pulling things out of the cupboard. "I think I'll make some of that cocoa recipe that Albus gave us."

"Perhaps some ginger tarts to go with it?" Francie's voice inquired.

"A lovely idea! Oh, did you hear the door just now?" Jennifer asked.

Andrew set down a bundled up tree and kicked off his boots, taking a moment to elongate the coat and shoe racks in the hall before stepping into the kitchen.

"Good, morning, Mother! Corey reports that everything is handled in Hogsmeade. Apparently they made their baskets yesterday," Andrew said, setting some pine garland down on the chair. It immediately disappeared.

"Oh, that is good news," Jennifer said, setting a coffee cup down on the tray that Francie was preparing. It then disappeared as well.

"Also, Essie asked me to let you know that this snow isn't going to let up anytime soon. In fact, she sees one of the biggest winter snows we've had in a while, especially here in London. She suggested if you have any Muggle-side errands that you should do them today before everyone goes into a panic when they're not able to use their cars for Christmas shopping," Andrew explained.

"I believe I'm done with them all, but we really ought to warn Lucky when she gets here," Jennifer decided.

"When will she be back from California?" Andrew asked, peering in one of the mixing bowls that had appeared on the bar.

"Sometime before noon," Jennifer said, glancing outside. "Look at that, Andrew. It's already starting to come down heavier."

"So it is," Andrew said thoughtfully, and then smiled. "I wonder if there will be enough before this evening that I can make Quintin and the others a snow park? It might be worth the work, especially if this snow's not going anywhere until after Christmas. I could do the whole yard up."

"Surely not by yourself," Jennifer said.

"I don't mind. Is that cocoa on the stove? Any marshmallow cream? I suppose I could just ask Father..."

"Don't you dare. The last thing we need is him feeling mischievous on Yule," Jennifer chided him.

"Yes, that would be dangerous," Andrew chuckled. He got up and fetched his boots from the hallway. "By the way, Mother, I made sure we had enough room for everyone's coats and boots on the rack tonight."

"Thank you, Andrew. Darcy, are you about? Perhaps some extra mats in the hallway as well? They're down in the lab," Jennifer called out.

"Yes, mistress," Darcy's voice answered.

"Mercy, do you suppose I could make uniforms for the rest of your staff?" Jennifer asked. Andrew looked at his mother curiously, leaning on the back door to put his boots back on. "As Head House Elf, that's your call, you know."

"Mercy doesn't think so, but Mercy will think about it," Mercy's voice said. A cup of cocoa was ladled out and set on the table.

"Thank you, Mercy," Andrew said. "I'll just take this out with me."

"Don't forget to put on a warmth charm..."

"I am a Hogwarts Professor, Mother. And I am old enough to figure that out without you reminding me," Andrew teased her, grabbing his cup. "Save the reminders for Leu and Quintin."

"You're right. Sorry," Jennifer said sincerely. Andrew grinned at her in amusement before going outside. Jennifer then stepped into the hall to check on their progress. Leu and Quintin were slowly making their way down the stairs.

"Hi, Mummy!" Quintin said.

"Good morning. You are taking your time on the stairs," Jennifer observed.

"Quintin is still a bit nervous about them," Leu explained.

"Five minutes, six seconds!" Quintin declared when he got to the bottom.

"That wasn't exactly what I meant, but thank you," Jennifer chuckled. "Come and set the table!"

"What is it?" Quintin wanted to know, pointing at the tree.

"You'll see soon enough. Breakfast first," Jennifer insisted. Quintin frowned at that, following her into the dining room. "Yes, I know it's early, but I have a great deal to do today and it's best you both get an early start as well. And if I'm not mistaken, you'll have someone to play with today."

"Who's coming over?" Leu asked.

"Everyone later, of course, but it sounds like Ginger and Justice will be here this morning," Jennifer explained. She heard the front door shut and looked up as Aurelius poked his head in from the hallway.

"Am I not invited?" Aurelius inquired.

"Oh! Good morning! I didn't know you would be here as well. After all, I know what you're schedule is like," Jennifer explained.

"I brought him just in case you needed backup. Justice can make it hard to talk to Severus at times," Ginger explained.

"Oh, now don't worry about that! Leu can surely help watch these two. Have you eaten?" Jennifer asked.

"No, Mum, I know better," Aurelius replied, taking out one of his wands long enough to transfigure a high chair.

"Is Severus in the library already?" Ginger asked.

"Of course. He knows not to hang about in the kitchen when there are baskets to be made," Jennifer chuckled.

"So do I, actually," Ginger agreed, stepping back out into the hall.

"I can help, Mum," Aurelius offered.

"Just what do they talk about when they have one of these talks, anyway?" Leu asked curiously.

"Us," Aurelius said dryly. "And how to try and get around us." Jennifer chuckled at that. "It's a support group for people who are married to Truth Seekers. I expect there will be another member in twenty years or so. How is Rus doing with his training, anyway?"

"Very well, although from what Alex has told me, it does cause some uncomfortable arguments between he and Jay from time to time," Jennifer admitted.

"Maybe Jay needs to be in the support group," Leu suggested. Jennifer grinned.

"You may have a point, Leu. I grew up without a sibling, so I can't imagine how that would be," Jennifer said.

"Uncomfortable as hell," Aurelius said curtly. Jennifer gazed at him intently. "I don't really remember that much before I cut myself off, but what I have been able to work out with the Pensieve the experience was miserable, at least on my end. It wasn't just you, Mother," he added quietly, Jennifer's gaze softening. "It was everyone, really."

"Perhaps you could help me with Rus, Aurelius? You might understand what it's like dealing with siblings better than I. You might have some ideas on teaching him how to cope that I wouldn't know," Jennifer suggested.

"All right," Aurelius agreed, Jennifer smiling and nodding in approval. "Speaking of siblings, where's Andrew? I've been wanting to talk to him but I don't often get a day off."

"Oh! He's in the backyard creating a play area for the children. From what he was thinking about, I expect he'll be out there most of the day," Jennifer added with amusement.

"I think I'll go help him then, unless you need me," Aurelius said. He glanced over at Justice, who was too busy playing bang the spoons with Quintin to notice.

"No, run along. I won't need help until the gingerbread are ready to come out, and I've much to do before then. I'll send some scones out when they're done," Jennifer assured him.

"Thanks," Aurelius said, stepping out into the snow.

Andrew was in the middle of the yard gathering what he could to make a circular platform, his hair and coat dusted with snow.

"Wow, it's really coming down," Aurelius said, looking up at the dense clouds.

"Biggest storm of the decade, so Essie thinks," Andrew said cheerfully. "Hullo, didn't know you were going to be here today."

"Traded for the overnight flag-watching duty on Christmas," Aurelius explained.

"Are you sure that's a fair trade?" Andrew grinned.

"Actually, it's perfect because it means I can go to Natalie's party before my shift and come home to spend Christmas morning with Justice," Aurelius said. "Are you making a carousel? Not enough snow for that."

"Just a baby's carousel. I'll do a fort with a slide for the bigger kids once the snow's packed in more," Andrew decided. "A tunnel maze, a small snowball targeting range over there, and that'll leave this area here for an eating area."

"You're not going to have enough snow to do all of that, at least not one day's worth," Aurelius chuckled.

"No, but I will have enough by Christmas. I thought I'd start with the carousel and target area first and see how things go after that," Andrew said.

"Well, let's clear the snow from the table area first and put the tarp up because I think I smell Francie's scones in the oven," Aurelius suggested.

"Good! I need to gather enough snow for three mounts. Want to make one?" Andrew asked.

"Fine," Aurelius said.

The two of them used their wands to roll up the snow around the tables as if it were a blanket, dropping it into piles out of the way while Andrew found the tarp and put it up over the area.

"Perhaps we do have enough to make the carousel," Aurelius mused, looking over the pile.

"I'd say so," Andrew agreed, then glanced at the table. "Look, there are the scones and a pot of something. Hot chocolate, I think."

"We should probably stop and eat, then," Aurelius suggested. He sat down and grabbed a scone, Andrew doing the same. "So how does it feel to be back?"

"Very good, actually, I can't wait to... oh... that wasn't what you meant, was it?" Andrew asked, stopping himself. "You didn't mean physically, did you?"

"Take it however you like," Aurelius answered with a shrug, pouring their drinks.

"You wouldn't be out here to talk about the more trivial answer," Andrew decided.

"I came out here to help you set up the yard," Aurelius said. "It's been a long time since we worked on anything together. I think the last time we tried was that incident trying to transport that Fomorian we thought was a siren, and you know how well that turned out."

"Well, let's do better on the yard," Andrew suggested, looking out at the falling snow. "Do you know how I really feel?" he asked, suddenly turning back around again and poking at the cream on his cocoa. "I feel like a complete and total idiot for letting things get that bad; for letting myself run away from who I really am for that long, and for letting my fears run rampant and get in the way of my faith in our mother. I've been an utter fool."

"True," Aurelius said, Andrew responding with a dirty look. "It's alright, Andrew, we've all been there. And we've all had a similar wake-up call, you know, even though with Alicia and Alex it was both concerning Father rather than Mother. But my experience was a lot more like yours and I felt exactly the same way about it. I just went through it a lot younger."

"When was that?" Andrew asked with a frown.

"When Mum showed up at the Malfoy mansion looking for me," Aurelius explained, Andrew's face changing when he got lost in a memory. "In the process I found out that Mum had left both her job and Father because she was worried about my safety."

"I remember that. To be honest, I try very hard not to think about that year. I've always felt so guilty about my part in that, and how she left the school because of it," Andrew admitted. Then he grimaced. "Come to think of it, I guess I was so caught up in how I felt about it that I didn't really think about how she felt about it. I only knew that my actions caused her to fly off the handle; I never questioned what happened beyond that. In fact, that's been my problem since Mum disappeared and became Jackie from New York."

"Really?" Aurelius replied with surprise. "I don't remember you really changing much until after that horrible day in the Riddle House with Malfoy. You were always the family anchor."

"Yeah, that played a part in it too," Andrew admitted quietly. "When Mum disappeared, I was so busy trying to stay strong for the rest of you that I ignored how badly I had been hurt by it. I pushed it aside and didn't want to deal with it. I wasn't okay. I wasn't okay going to Hogwarts without Mum there, and I wasn't really strong enough to be everyone's anchor. But I forced myself to do it because I had always done it before and the rest of you depended on me. I wasn't even aware that I was hiding anything, really, it was a subconscious thing. I didn't know until Merlin forced me to see it... so that I would be able to accept Mum's love enough that it could protect me from Samira and her court." Andrew glanced over somberly at Aurelius. He had been studying Andrew carefully, getting a glimpse into his memory of that night and the battle that had followed.

"I'm sorry that I didn't see it earlier on, Andrew," Aurelius said at last. "Perhaps if I hadn't been so blocked off I would have noticed sooner."

"You were going through your own version of hell at that moment. Let's face it, we all came into that school with baggage to sort out. It's just that some of us left with a lot more baggage than we came in with," Andrew said dryly. He grew quiet again, more conscious of how Aurelius' gaze never left him. Finally he decided he didn't care. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to toss out a bit more baggage while I'm at it, if you don't mind."

"Feel free. I'm family, after all. I'm not likely to roast you for it," Aurelius shrugged.

"Fair enough," Andrew said. "It's about Ginger, actually. I always thought of her as just a friend during school. Halbert was the one interested in her, not me, and the first time I asked her out, it was with the sole intention of trying to get her hooked up with Halbert."

"Everyone in the school knew that," Aurelius said with a snort.

"Yes, but as time passed, my fears began punching holes in me," Andrew sighed. "I didn't want to feel abandoned or alone again. But I also didn't want to become so attached to someone that if something happened to that person I would be hurt again so badly. And since Ginger liked me more than I liked her, I sort of used to her fill that..."

"Sort of?" Aurelius challenged him. Andrew grimaced in apparent pain. "And then, when she started getting attached..." he prompted, having no intention of letting Andrew off the hook this time.

"I panicked," Andrew admitted. "I asked for an open relationship, and then to prove that I wanted one, I started making a list of every girl in the school who had responded to my flirtations and made certain she knew I was seeing them all."

"And the carousel began," Aurelius finished, munching on his scone. Andrew nodded somberly, eating his as well. "Until Ginger and I got together, and that hole you had filled with meaningless relationships got dumped out and you realized that your fear of loneliness had gotten bigger due to your own actions. That is when you shut everyone out."

"Everyone that I could, at least. Everyone but Quintin, really, who hadn't done anything in my opinion to deserve it. In some ways, I pitied him. And I was confused by him. And I was... well, I still am a little... jealous of him," Andrew admitted.

"Jealous? I should say so!" Aurelius said so emphatically that Andrew smiled at him in surprise.

"I'm jealous of him too, you know. Alicia as well. Hell, Alex was so jealous of him that when she found out the board was going to allow Quintin to stay in the castle, the Ministry had a full-fledged Green Monster attack," Aurelius said.

"Really?" Andrew said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I was there for the clean up and the cover up," Aurelius admitted. Andrew laughed again as he was imagining that. "You know, if our parents thought it was at all possible for us to be with them when we were growing up, I think they would have tried it. Especially if they felt it was safer."

"Yes," Andrew acknowledged to himself as well as to Aurelius. "It wouldn't have been possible. And it wouldn't have been safer."

"But I'm still jealous," Aurelius added. Andrew chuckled.

"Me too. I suppose there's no helping it," Andrew said with a smile.

"At least you're not denying it anymore. Or anything else," Aurelius said, getting up. "We'd better get back at it. Your carousel platform is nearly covered, you know. We should probably build it higher up."

"A good plan," Andrew agreed, getting up and going over to the pile. "So how long did it take you? I mean... after that year you almost got expelled... to feel comfortable around Mum again?"

"Years," Aurelius said. Andrew's face grew somber again. "But don't forget, Andrew, I was still denying my ability as a Truth-Seeker then, and it's that ability which had caused the biggest rift between me and Mum. We couldn't reconcile completely until that was all sorted out and I could understand her on her own level. Don't worry, Andrew, I don't think it'll take you as long. You aren't in the same position as I was and you aren't denying anything anymore."

"That's true," Andrew said, going back over to the platform. "Rel, I'm glad we had this talk. And I'm glad I'm being true to myself again, considering it's my dishonesty with myself that must have caused the biggest rift between you and I."

"Obviously," Aurelius said with a thin smile.

"Are you going to make a unicorn mount?" Andrew asked.

"Also obvious," Aurelius agreed. "What about you?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll make one that looks like Radiance," Andrew said daringly.

"You are feeling brave today," Aurelius chuckled.

"Yes. I wonder if my bravery will last long enough for me to make some sort of amends with Ginger?" Andrew asked, hoping Aurelius would give him some insights on whether or not it was even possible. "I rather would like to be friends again."

"I don't know," Aurelius admitted, answering Andrew's internal question as well. "I mean, it isn't like you were friends to begin with. If you started changing as early as you say you did, she hasn't really met the real Andrew, has she?"

"No, I suppose not," Andrew realized. "I guess that means it's going to take time as well. Never mind, us coming to terms is enough for one day!"

"Gee, thanks," Aurelius said. "Don't tell me you have a black book full of people to reconcile with as well now."

"As a matter of fact," Andrew answered jokingly before the two got back to work. The conversation changed then... back to childhood before Andrew was in Hogwarts... reminiscing about other snowmen and snow forts and holidays they had together growing up.

When Severus and Ginger came down the stairs, Jennifer was peering out the kitchen window with a glowing smile on her face.

"And just what are you doing besides not finishing the springerle?" Severus asked critically.

"Oh, Severus! You must see this, do come over here!" Jennifer said insistently.

"I have seen snow before," Severus said, reluctantly allowing himself to be dragged over to the window.

Curiously, Ginger went over to the back door, pulling the curtains back. Then she found herself staring, for Aurelius and Andrew were standing on either side of a half-finished carousel, both laughing at something to the point it had interrupted their work. Aurelius then said something that had made Andrew put his arms on his hips, saying something in response. Instead of responding, Aurelius reached down and threw a snowball at him, and a moment later a skirmish erupted, with an occasional spell thrown in here and there. It was, however, not like any argument that Ginger had ever seen them have before. It was a playful, mischievous dispute, to the point where the dispute may have just been an excuse to lob snowballs at each other while carefully maintaining a distance away from the carousel so that their work wouldn't be knocked down in the process.

"Who the hell are those people?" Ginger exclaimed, unaware that she had even said it out loud.

"He's back, Severus! He's really truly back!" Jennifer said, barely able to contain her elation at that fact. "They're all back now! All of four of them at last!"

"So it would seem. It will be interesting to see how it affects his teaching style when he returns," Severus said, Jennifer slapping a hand back at him for that.

"Oh, you would say that! No school business today, that includes conjectures about teaching!" Jennifer scolded him. "Yule is about family, Severus."

"Hogwarts is part of our family, Jennifer. And besides, I thought Yule was about making springerle, which isn't getting made."

"Why don't you put on an apron and make them yourself then," Jennifer scolded him. The she noticed Ginger, still staring out the window. "Care to help with the biscuits, Ginger?"

"Sure, although I'd rather make the gingerbread. What do you suppose has gotten into Rel and Andrew? I've never seen them getting along like that, let alone actually building anything together," Ginger said.

"I have, but it was a very long time ago," Jennifer said with a smile, turning back to the table.

"Perhaps it's the snow," Severus conjectured.

"Then it's a good thing it's going to snow a lot," Jennifer said cheerfully, setting up the molds.


	2. The Wizardday Office Party

Chapter Two

The Wizardday Office Party

Abraxas Coventry, having no better options, joined Norman Balmweed for a light brew before Apparating into the Cloak Room of the Ministry' Ambassador Hall.

"Such a miserable snow! You'd think it would have let up by now. It's been snowing all day," Abraxas grumbled.

"It's going to snow all week, according to the _Daily Prophet,_ " Norman said.

"Do you really still read that thing?" Abraxas asked critically, taking off his coat. Norman shrugged.

"It is accurate in some respects, Abraxas, especially when it comes to the weather. Brim is a fairly reliable forecaster," Norman said. "Besides, it never hurts to hear the other views of the political circus, so one knows what one is walking into during these sorts of events. Fortunately, it should be pleasantly subdued this year, being that it's not an election year."

The two men handed off their coats and stepped inside, having been intentionally late. Abraxas searched the crowds for his daughter, while Norman searched the crowds for the Headmaster, frowning when he didn't see him either on the dance floor or in the small crowd that seemed to follow him around.

"Not a Snape in sight anywhere," Norman observed.

"Thank goodness! Perhaps this won't be a disagreeable evening after all," Abraxas said. But Norman had been hoping to get a feel on the next board meeting now that Minerva was back on the board. He glanced around again.

"There is your daughter, Abraxas, over by Minister Craw and his wife. Let's go over," Norman suggested.

"Yes, let's. I have a word or two for Craw anyway," Abraxas said. Norman furrowed his brows at that.

"Careful, Coventry. It's not wise to tangle words with Craw. You know how he can be if he's in a sour mood," Norman warned.

"I don't care. My daughter has been staying over there and I have a right to have a word if I like," Abraxas said.

"Especially if she becomes a Craw, I suppose," Norman mused, Abraxas making a ward against evil gesture with his hand before walking over.

"Here he comes, the pompous ass," Thomas said. Beth and Maurice immediately followed his gaze.

"Thomas! You shouldn't say such things about the girl's father, especially in front of her," Fleur scolded him.

"I could have been referring to Balmweed, you know. What makes you think I was talking about him?" Thomas challenged her. Fleur blushed at that, apologizing quietly to Beth.

"No matter. It isn't as if I haven't thought that myself, especially recently," Beth said. "He's been positively unbearable since he's gotten divorced again."

"Hopefully all the other witches of the world will wise up and stay away from him," Maurice murmured.

"I doubt it. We've still got money," Beth said dryly, waving cordially as her father came over.

"What a fine ball this is, Elizabeth! Is it true that you catered for the Ministry yourself?" Abraxas said proudly, hugging her briefly.

"Not by myself, Fleur Craw helped out a lot," Beth said, Fleur tsking at that.

"I merely helped hire the string quartet and see to the hall. Your daughter did all the food and refreshments from what she's been learning at school in Paris," Fleur protested.

"Ah, I hadn't heard she was continuing her education," Norman said.

"Yes, I figured I would take advantage of everything my mother has taught me about hosting social events to a more professional level," Beth said, Norman nodding approvingly at that.

"We could definitely use a professional caterer for some of these events instead of relying solely on volunteer committees. Perhaps you could cater one of the upcoming dinners for the new hospital?" Norman suggested.

"Goodness, don't encourage her, Norman! Elizabeth, you don't need to work!" Abraxas scolded her.

"The family made half of its fortune thanks to luxury wizard hotels, Father. I am sure my new job will help me tremendously when I'm learning the business," Elizabeth said smoothly.

"It isn't the education I mind. In that you have my full support, Elizabeth, financial and otherwise," Abraxas said. "But this 'hiring-out' business is quite embarrassing. Let those who actually need money do that sort of trivial job, you have more important things to do then serve other people, like finding a suitable husband, preferably one old enough to know what the real world is like and is from an old _reputable_ wizard family..."

"Thomas-" Fleur warned, but Maurice began talking at the same time.

"Our family is much more reputable than yours has been lately, Coventry, and at least five generations older than yours, if not longer!" Maurice spat out angrily.

"And nearly all of them have been cold-blooded murderers," Abraxas said coolly back.

"Yes, including me. I wouldn't forget that, if I were you," Thomas said, calm despite Fleur's concern. "I also don't think my son's age plays into this. If Garvan Gamban had taken interest in your daughter, you would have been thrilled. Too bad your daughter hadn't been standing in that dragon's path, eh, Coventry?" Abraxas turned as white as a sheet, betraying the fact that Abraxas had thought of it before.

"You are rude, crass, and a terrible influence on my daughter! I demand that she return home at once!" Abraxas said.

"No," Beth said primly.

"She's an adult now, Abraxas, you can't force her to do anything, and who I allow stay in my house is none of your damn business, anyway," Thomas said, waving him off like a pestering fly.

"Elizabeth! Adult or not, you have family obligations! Come home at once or..."

"Or what? You'll disinherit me?" Beth goaded him. "Go right ahead, father. After all, I have a job now, and I think it'd be almost poetic justice if Michael inherited everything once you're gone."

Abraxas stood there a moment with his fists clenched, furious and red-faced.

"I have had enough of this! I am disgusted with all three of you! I wish I never had children at all!" Abraxas declared.

"Yes, some of us wish that too," Thomas agreed. "No offense, Beth."

"None taken," Beth said, watching with satisfaction as her father stormed out.

"Well. I suppose that will make for a quieter evening," Norman Balmweed conjectured.

"Just why do you hang around with that stuffed robe, Balmweed? Especially when you have four times the sense and brains that he does," Thomas said.

"Thank you, true enough, but one does tend to travel in one's political circles. Anyway, the real reason I came over here was to ask if the Headmaster was attending tonight," Norman explained.

"No, I don't even think Alex is coming tonight," Thomas said. "They're spending Yule together this year since Andrew and Lucky missed last year... which means that we're probably in for a long, boring, ball."

"Oh no! It can't be boring!" Beth fretted. Maurice laughed at that.

"I doubt he means it in that way, Beth. Come on, let's see who else is here. Maybe we can liven things up a bit," Maurice suggested.

"Just don't kill anyone tonight. I don't want to stay up all night doing paperwork," Thomas said, waving a dismissal.

"He doesn't really suspect that you'd actually kill someone, does he?" Beth asked in a low voice, looking amused. Maurice shrugged.

"Well, no, but I'm sure he knows I would if a family member was in danger," Maurice said.

"Then it's a good thing most of them aren't here tonight, isn't it?" Beth teased.

"Beth! Maurice!" The two of them looked up as Delia came over with a smile. "How are you? It's been a while, hasn't it? Is it true you organized the ball this year? Great job!"

"Thanks!" Beth smiled. "What have you been doing lately? On the wireless yet?"

"I haven't even had luck getting a successful audition. Apparently I don't have a shot unless I move to America, and I don't want to go there," Delia said.

"You just need a lucky break, that's all." Beth was quite startled when she realized that her brother had stepped up from behind her, joining Delia. "But you won't get it by working in the Owl Post Office."

"Mike thinks I should get on at the Daily Prophet, but I really don't like writing. I prefer to talk," Delia said.

"We all know that," Beth teased. "So are you two together now?"

"What? Oh, we're just here as friends," Delia said. "Mike thought I'd be a good buffer if we ran into his father."

"Delia," Mike warned.

"You don't need to worry about that, he already stormed off in a huff. We should have a father-free evening tonight," Beth assured them.

"Her father doesn't like her working and he doesn't think I'm good enough for her," Maurice explained.

"Typical. Really, it's probably less because you're a Craw and more about Snape and your sister, considering all the run-ins they've had," Mike said.

"Probably, but he was stupid to try to mince words with my father," Maurice said.

"Anyone would be stupid to mince words with your father," Mike agreed.

"Hey, Delia, have you tried the hydra pate yet?" Maurice asked.

"Hm? Since when does this ball cater the high-end stuff? Is someone here I don't know about?" Delia asked suspiciously.

"Come on, let's go check it out," Maurice said, ignoring the scowl he got from Beth when he pulled Delia along with him.

"How obvious can you get?" Beth declared. Mike chuckled at that.

"I think he meant it to be obvious," Mike said. "After all, we haven't really spoken since that brief greeting at Corey's party. So you're still staying with the Craws, I take it? Ever since..."

"Since our father finally woke up and realized how much of a loose wand that Donald is," Beth said, folding her arms. "Once he decided I was the only child worth bothering with and named me his sole heir, he's decided that gives him the right to control my entire life, including who I'm dating. So when I showed up at the Craw mansion to tell Maurice I was going to go stay at the hotel for a while, his father stepped in and suggested that staying at their mansion would give me more space since Father wouldn't dare show up there. I'll admit that he hasn't," Beth added. "So why didn't you spend more time at Corey's party, anyway?"

"Oh, I was on duty. We just stopped by on the way out," Mike explained.

"I understand. So I heard you're a full Auror now? Where are your scars?" Beth asked.

"Very funny," Mike said. "I'm sure I'll earn them, but I'm in no rush. Besides, they've been putting me on the flag board every single chance they get."

"Well, I suppose that's one way to prolong it," Beth said. "Are you going to grandfather's estate for Christmas?"

"Only long enough to make an appearance, really, and then I'm going to the Blacks' party. I don't suppose you want to come? That will get us both out of there early," Mike suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Beth said. "Have you been over to the buffet table yet? I brought a few of the things I learned in Paris if you want to try them."

"Sure, why not?" Mike replied with a smile, the two of them going over and joining Maurice and Delia near the buffet.

* * *

Deacon Aldus hovered over the snowdrifts and into the doorway of Wizardday Publishing, the snow brushing of his coat with a gesture. Tubbins peered in from the editing room. "Ah, it's Deacon! We're in here, of course. That smells good."

"Thank you. Happy Yule," Aldus said, stepping in and being greeted by several other office employees.

"I made it easy for you this year, Deacon. Everything on the left table should be safe for you, so you don't just have to eat out of your own cauldron," he said.

"Thank you, Bronan," Aldus said, setting his cauldron down by the ones that the editor had indicated. "Good evening, Peter."

"Deacon," Peter Gamban acknowledged, sipping on some wine.

"I thought you might go to the ball tonight," Aldus said.

"And hear Coventry and Balmweed bring up the same complaints to deaf ears while half the Aurors in the room breathe down my neck in case I sneeze out my father's location?" Gamban reminded him with a snort, Aldus chuckling at that. "I prefer a drama-free Yule, especially when it's not even an election year and Garvan opted to go to the Willowby's. Besides, here I can bring my own wine," he added in a lower voice. "And Deacon can eat."

"Some of it, anyway," Aldus agreed, picking through his selection. "Better than anywhere else these days."

"Some don't consider Imps the best of cooks, but mine do a fairly decent job of it, don't you think?" Tubbins said. "Of course, I do keep some spices on hand just in case. They're fantastic at following recipes, but not having a true sense of taste puts them at somewhat of a disadvantage as far as last minute touches."

"I envy your talent, Tubbins. Your Imps are always so well behaved compared to others. I'm always afraid of turning my backs on them when I visit other offices who use them," Gamban admitted.

"Here they're pretty happy. They were constructed as wizard assistants, after all, and are the only wizard-created race who developed the ability to read, so working in a printing office serves their basic instincts," Tubbins explained.

"Then why do the ones at the _Oracle_ give everyone such a hard time?" Gamban asked. Tubbins snorted.

"I think you already know the reason," Tubbins said, glancing at the clock. "I wonder where he is?"

"He'll be here. It's not like he has anything else to do," Gamban said dryly, then paused. "There's the door again, maybe that's him."

But when they looked over, it was Abraxas who stepped in with a plate in hand.

"Happy Yule, Happy Christmas. Such rotten weather!" Abraxas noted, going over to the trays. "My daughter made this herself. Where should I put it?"

"Here," Aldus said, tapping his table.

"We thought you were going to the Ministry Ball, Abraxas," Gamban said.

"I did go and it wasn't worth staying. But I did manage to procure one of Beth's appetizer trays off the Ministry table," Abraxas said. When he turned around, everyone was still looking at him questioningly. "She's been studying in France, you know."

"So you've mentioned before, Abraxas," Tubbins nodded.

"Still with the Craw boy, I take it?" Gamban inquired.

"Yes, if you must know, and she still refuses to come home. I had words with Thomas over him allowing her to stay there. What in the world could she be thinking, getting involved with one of _them_?" Abraxus ranted in exasperation.

"You're asking the wrong person," Gamban said dryly.

"That's right, you have your own problems, don't you? The Willowby girl," Abraxas said, accepting a glass of wine from him. "Any luck convincing him to become a law counselor yet?"

"No, he's too set on her at the moment. Give it time, I'm sure he'll come to his senses. With his build and nature, my son wouldn't last a day as an Auror," Gamban said.

"I believe I would have to disagree with you there, Peter," Aldus interjected. "Garvan was third in his Defense class, and he has some keen reflexes and amazing response times, especially on a broom."

"He got that from his grandfather," Gamban admitted.

"While I think it's asinine to go into a profession just because of a girl he likes, he is more than capable of doing the job if he does decide to stick with it," Aldus assured him.

"Just because someone is capable of doing something doesn't mean that they should," Abraxas argued. "My Beth is a brilliant caterer, but she should be using that talent to throw parties for charity work, not as witch out for hire. She's an heiress, not a common servant," Abraxas seethed, missing Aldus' squinting gaze. "It's all that bad influence coming from the Craws that I mind! There are so many better candidates for her to partner with, and she's lulled away by a pretty faced boy with Veela eyes!"

"Are you certain that is the reason?" Aldus inquired. "As you'll recall, I had Beth in one of my classes, and she was nothing if not the most practically-minded student I had last year. And as such, I can see many possible reasons she might decide that engaging in a relationship with Maurice would be beneficial to her future; status, reputation, a nice mansion by the sea, and leverage if she's ever at odds with her family."

"Just how do you mean that?" Abraxas bristled.

"Her family life has been anything but stable growing up," Aldus answered with a shrug. "And while the Craws have their fair share of problems, the one thing they do offer is a stable family she can turn to."

"What a ridiculous thing to say! She can always turn to me, and she always has done so!" Abraxas protested heatedly.

"For financial support, yes. But what about anything else?" Aldus asked. Abraxas stared at him.

"I know what this is about now. This is about you becoming a Hogwarts Professor," Abraxas accused him. Aldus rolled his eyes at that and turned to get a cup of tea. "Just whose side are you on these days?"

"Oh come now, Abraxas, do be reasonable," Tubbins protested.

"Abraxas, you really are going too far," Gamban warned.

"He's been teaching for a year and a half now. You know how Snape gets into people's heads, Gamban. Tell us honestly, Deacon. Are you Snape's man?" Abraxas demanded.

"You seem to be under the impression that I am still a servant, Coventry," Aldus said expressionlessly, but there was a tone in his voice so cold that it seemed to bring down the temperature in the room. "Snape should be the least of your worries, considering how many wizards you have offended over the years who are closer at hand." Abraxas furrowed his brows at him, debating whether there was a threat in that statement or not.

A blast of cold air alerted them to the fact that someone else had come in from outside. A moment later, Amadeus Longbottom stepped into the room with Jeffers close behind.

"Craters and Candles, it's cold out there. What the hell did I just walk into?" Amadeus asked when he saw the tense looks, apparently focused on Coventry.

"Not much. Coventry was challenging Deacon's loyalties," Gamban explained.

"You always were a stupid ass at times, Coventry. Do you have a death wish? Deacon's obviously a member of the Inner Circle," Longbottom said.

"Inner what, Amadeus?" Aldus asked calmly, accepting a wine bottle from him.

"Hardly a point to deny it with this audience, is there? What has your wand bent tonight, anyway, Abraxas, other than the horrid weather?" Longbottom asked.

"His daughter is still seeing the Craw boy," Tubbins offered.

"In that case, I don't blame him being testy," he said, sitting on one of the desks. "Between Beth's choice and Garvan's, it makes me feel lucky not to have kids. Jeffers, put that tray down somewhere and relax."

"This side, I believe," Aldus said, tapping the other table.

"Thank you," Jeffers said, putting it down.

"I would rather have a rebellious heir to the company than no heir at all," Coventry replied defiantly. "But that doesn't mean I ever want to see the Craws get my money. If I could just get her to move back to the mansion, maybe she'll look at other possibilities."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Gamban asked.

"Well, I don't know yet, but somehow, I will show her the error of her ways!" Coventry said resolutely.

"Because we all know just how well that worked with Don and Mike," Amadeus said sarcastically. Coventry glared at him.

"Anything you might try against the Craws is liable to backfire, Coventry. You are better off just accepting your daughter's decisions and letting her make her own mistakes," Deacon said.

"In that we're in agreement, Deacon," Gamban said. "And although I wouldn't have put it the way Amadeus put it, you have already estranged two children, Coventry; I would go to some extra effort not to estrange the last one if I were you."

"Maybe I won't have to," Abraxas mused. "Maybe I can find a way through Maurice to get them to break up."

"Touch Maurice and you're going to have bigger problems, and I don't mean just Craw. May I remind you that Maurice is Garvan's best friend and has said as much on numerous occasions when writing to his grandfather?" Gamban warned.

"It isn't as if I would ever physically hurt the lad! I don't believe in committing such violence!" Abraxas said indignantly. Then he glanced thoughtfully at Longbottom. "Perhaps a smear campaign from reliable sources, discrediting his intentions?" Amadeus shrugged, grabbing a plate.

"Sure, if you pay me enough. I can come over after the party to discuss it if you like," Amadeus said. "It had better be good, though, considering I'm on Craw's kill on sight list and they'll probably know where it came from if it's too outlandish."

"They'll probably know anyway," Aldus said, sipping his tea. Coventry frowned at him. "Don't worry, Coventry, I won't say anything to Snape, but I doubt I'll have to."

"Really, is all this plotting necessary? This is supposed to be an office Christmas party, not an unofficial society meeting," Tubbins protested.

"I agree. Bring on that other bottle," Gamban suggested.

"Happy Christmas then, to every other wizard in this group who had nothing better to do on Yule than attend this party," Tubbins said for a toast, several of the others answering with a grunt before taking a drink.

* * *

By Christmas Eve, inches of snow had turned into feet, and many of the Muggles had abandoned shovels for snowplows that only succeeded in burying cars lining the streets. In Hogsmeade, large piles of snow made for great play areas, and business continued to flourish despite the inconvenience.

Toby the Tinker walked down the snowy streets dragging a sled, making a stop first at the Willowby's house before continuing on to his own house in the back of the dress shop. Every now and then a group of kids would stop to say hello and see if he had anything exciting on the sled, but as it was normal Christmas fare, they often continued on their way after finding out how late the shop would be open. Kicking off his boots, he pulled the sled up, bringing the goose in but leaving the rest outside.

"I'm home, Mrs. Tinker," he said cheerfully, loud enough he could be heard through the door leading to the shop. A moment later Ashley came in and gave him an enthusiastic kiss and hug that made him juggle the bird in his hand.

"Look at you, being so helpful and domestic," Ashley teased mercilessly, taking the goose from him.

"You're heartless, Mrs. Tinker," Toby tsked.

"Did you drop off the things for Natalie's party?" Ashley asked.

"Yes, and your wood order and tree are on the sled out back. But I really ought to be getting to the shop, you know, unless you give me a good enough reason to delay," he added with a glint in his eye.

"That can wait until later," she chuckled at him. "Are you sure you can't come to the party?"

"No, I'm quite sure I'll be needed at the shop, but I shall visit for a moment when I come to see you home," Toby promised. "Besides, I just don't feel in the groove of things here yet, and I find that spending some quality in my shop does help clear my mind and get me back on track again." Ashley frowned.

"Have I been too clingy, Mr. Tinker?" she worried.

"No more than one would expect, Mrs. Tinker," Toby assured her.

"All the same, I should have seen it, but we were so worried when you were captured..."

"I apologize for upsetting you again, Mrs. Tinker. But you knew I was incorrigible when you married me," he pointed out.

"Yes, Mr. Tinker," Ashley said with a sigh of resignation, giving him another quick kiss. "Why don't you run along then? I really ought to get back to helping Minerva anyway," she admitted, putting the goose in the ice box.

"Don't worry, I'll be home again to harass you sometime this evening," Toby promised with a wink, ignoring her shake of the head as he slipped back out.

Deciding to take the long way around, he wandered past the Alchemist Shop to see that it was bustling with activity thanks to last minute orders. He smiled and looked down the street. The Sports Shop and Honeydukes also seemed to be doing a fair amount of trade, while Pyther Studios, the Divine Aura, and Zonko's had already closed up for the day. They would all be closed in another hour or two, Toby mused, walking slowly to his shop as he watched the falling snow and listened to the sounds of town as he did so. Finally he kicked off his boots against the door and went in. Only a couple of local customers were in there at the moment, along with Maurice Craw, who had been standing by the counter talking to Ambrose. Archimedes and Halcyon let out sounds of greeting.

"You know there's a spell to prevent your boots from going into the snow," Maurice pointed out with a grin.

"One cannot enjoy nature if one is always hovering over it," Toby replied as he walked behind the counter. "If you ignore the ground, dear boy, you may never realize exactly what it is you are stepping in."

"Good to have you back, Mr. Toby," Maurice grinned.

"Thank you," Toby smiled. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Not really," Maurice said. "I was looking for something for my sister because I'm out of ideas."

"Oh! Well, now that I'm here, maybe you might try having another look," Toby suggested.

"It's probably a good idea," Maurice agreed and went to take another look around.

"Father, do you suppose it'd be all right if Maurice came to stay over for a couple of days after the holidays?" Ambrose asked.

"Yes, of course it's perfectly fine with me, Ambrose... as long as you tell your mother exactly why you would prefer staying over here rather than the Craws in the first place," Toby said. Ambrose's grin faded.

"What?" Ambrose asked flatly.

"Now, you know perfectly well your mother has the last word when it comes to parental decisions, Ambrose, I'm too much an advocate for Free Will in a world with conventional rules... many of which I don't agree with, of course. Besides, Severus would give me hell about it if I let this one go," Toby said under his breath. Ambrose grimaced. "Any luck, Maurice?"

"Maybe. I found a picture frame," Maurice explained, holding it up.

"I can definitely think of several different photos that your sister would love inside of that," Toby said.

"Yes, me too," Maurice said thoughtfully, then decided to purchase it.

"Now, why don't you boys run along? I'm sure you've got things to talk about. I can take over here," Toby insisted.

"Thanks," Ambrose said, Maurice glancing at him questioningly as the two made their way outside, Archimedes following them out.

Toby chuckled softly to himself, thinking how good it was to be back home again.


	3. Half Term

_A/N Just finished mid-term stuff, ironically enough, considering the name of this chapter, and this semester is proving to be more time consuming than I thought. Moral: never take two history courses in the same semester. But enough about that; it's November 1st so I'm releasing the two setup chapters for this book, getting us caught up into what's been going on at the school since Andrew's absence. Thanks for being patient! ~ JCWriter_

Chapter Three

Half Term

Andrew stood in front of the gates for a moment and stared at the castle, its presence alone more daunting than the three feet of snow in front of them.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to come back," Andrew confessed out loud, despite knowing that Aurelius had already read it from him.

"I know I can't speak from experience, considering I've never been to the Otherworld," Aurelius replied, "but I doubt it'd get any easier with time." Andrew thought about it for a moment.

"You're probably right," Andrew admitted, taking out his wand. Concentrating on the snow obstructing their way, the snow parted and tossed itself to the side, piling up higher and higher until it formed an archway. Ice crystallized in a lattice pattern over the top portion of the arch, letting sunlight through.

"Good job. Ice and snow really are your strong points in transfiguration," Aurelius commented, picking up a suitcase at Andrew's side.

"Yes," Andrew said distantly. The he pulled himself out of it. "It was in school as well, come to think of it," he recalled, leading Aurelius towards the castle.

"You should take advantage of it when school starts," Aurelius suggested. "Take your first classes outside for experimentation."

"That's not a bad idea, actually..." Andrew mused.

"It should help ease the awkwardness some if you're teaching something active," Aurelius agreed. Andrew threw him a dirty look but Aurelius simply gave him a tight smile which Andrew recognized as his "you know that I know" expression.

"I'm not sure I'm ready," Andrew sighed.

"You'll never be ready," Aurelius said, opening the door for him.

"I'll never be ready," Andrew agreed, stepping inside.

"Your office or room first?" Aurelius asked.

"Office. Let's get it over with," Andrew said.

"Good plan," Aurelius agreed.

The two of them went over to the main stairwell, noticing that someone was sitting on the bottom stair. It was Danyelle, sitting with her head propped up in her hand.

"You too?" Aurelius asked, causing her to look up. She glanced between them, settling her gaze on Andrew.

"I'm not ready," Danny admitted.

"Welcome to the club," Andrew replied with a sigh. "What are you even doing at this end of the castle?"

She pointed a finger up.

"Conference with your father. He wants to chat with everyone coming back," Danyelle explained.

"Well, he doesn't seem too worried about you yet, considering the stairs haven't changed," Aurelius pointed out. "Why don't you come with us to drop this stuff in Andrew's office and I can escort you both up?"

Danny shrugged and got up.

"At least it'll get me further up the stairs," she agreed. "And how is Andrew the Wise holding up?"

"Don't start that. If you do, we may never make it up those stairs," Andrew protested with a chuckle as they climbed.

"You have less than a week to get it together," Aurelius reminded them.

"That's brutal, Rel," Danny protested, going up the stairs in front of the other two.

"Maybe, but I think you need reminded. Don't forget, you're not only here to take over your classes, but also your house. No offense, Danny, but I think our house will eat you alive if you go into the common room in the condition you're in right now," Aurelius warned.

"You're right," she admitted with a grimace.

"He's been right a lot today," Andrew told her.

"Of course. Why else do you think Father sent me?" Aurelius snorted. Andrew stopped and stared at him.

"I see. So you didn't just 'happen' by," Andrew said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Well, I may not have been in a similar position as you two, but Father was. I take it from the request that it must not have been any easier on him getting back into the swing of things," Aurelius said, continuing up the stairs.

"Unlikely," Andrew agreed.

Aurelius waited patiently as Andrew looked around his office. Andrew took a moment to let Darwin out of his cage, and the finch decided to take up a position on Andrew's shoulder.

"Bringing him?" Aurelius asked.

"He's been pretty clingy since I got home," Andrew explained, stepping back out of the office.

"Redwing has been like that too," Danny chuckled. "In fact, it's been a contest between who has been clingier, her or Gloria."

"I'm sure that must have been hard on them," Andrew empathized, the two of them letting Aurelius take the lead this time.

"It was hard on them, and yet... it was just as hard on me in a different way. Gloria missed me a little every day, but when I saw her again and how much she changed, it was like a mallet came down and I missed her for the whole year and a half in a single instant. Taylor as well," Danny explained.

"I felt the same way about my mother," Andrew admitted, "only it felt more like decades." Aurelius nodded to him knowingly.

"Is it because of that shield-thing Merlin put on you at the end?" Danny asked curiously.

"He didn't put the shield on me, really. Rather he drew it out of me," Andrew explained. "But yes, that has a lot to do with it."

"Fifteenth floor," Aurelius informed them. The other two looked up in surprise to find themselves in front of the spiral staircase.

"Weird. How did we get up here so fast?" Danny asked.

"I guess you were ready," Aurelius shrugged, opening the door for them.

Severus gestured at them distractedly to come in, his desk already filled with tomes and scrolls.

"Finally made it up, did we?" Severus observed when they finally stepped inside. "Aurelius, could you go fetch your youngest brother? I think he's exploring the Chamber again."

"Won't Mother be pleased to hear that," Aurelius said sarcastically, slipping back out of the room.

"Wait! Who won the pool?" Andrew protested.

"Harry. The first time it happened was last year," Severus told him. "Have a seat."

"You don't seem to be too worried about it," Danny ventured.

"When it became obvious that Quintin was going to find a way to explore the castle whether we wanted him to or not, I took the liberty of baby-proofing the more sensitive areas of the castle. Even so, I can't take full credit; Jennifer's solution to the matter was also brilliant," Severus said.

"Which was?" Andrew asked curiously.

"You know how Water Wings work, correct?" Severus asked.

"Yes, the kids wear them on the boat to keep them from falling in the water," Andrew agreed.

"Well, she was able to use the danger detectors in the wings and combine them with one of the Quidditch Teleport bands. We charmed it so that if he got into a precarious situation in the castle... such as falling off the clock tower... he'd be transported into the nursery," Severus explained. "By the way, if you're watching him, don't remove his necklace."

"Noted," Andrew said with a nod.

"Oh, and don't tell to your mother if you notice him actually using it. She does get rather irritable when it works correctly for some reason," Severus said. "Shall we get to school business?"

"Absolutely," Danny said. Severus handed each of them a scroll.

"Hermione prepared you some basic notes to fill you in on some events that might affect your departments. As you can see, she also included a list of the students who have been Sorted into your houses during your absence, and I believe she marked the students that you should specifically check their folders to get caught up on in more depth. Also, congratulations. You both dodged the goblin bullet," Severus added dryly.

"Mari Maxxen?" Danny said out loud, not seeing how that was any better. "Not Worley Maxxin's kid?"

"I don't know. I looked up the grandparent," Severus admitted, glancing at his secretary painting. "Armando, have Demura confirm that?"

"Who was the grandparent?" Danny asked.

"Fritjof Maxxen, he was a younger member of one of the dark families that left when Voldemort issued them an ultimatum," Severus said.

"I bet it's them, then. Nelson had fled with several others when went to Northern India," Danny said.

"Really? I didn't know that," Andrew said with interest. Danny shrugged.

"It's not a part of my life I like to talk about. I try to convince myself that my life didn't start until after I got to Hogwarts most of the time," Danny admitted. "Has she caused any trouble?"

"No, not really, except for testing the waters to find out where the power lies in the house," Severus said. Danny snorted.

"A lot of them do that," she admitted. "All right. Perhaps I'm overreacting, then."

"Perhaps, but let's not make the mistake of ruling out caution completely," Severus advised.

"Andrew, while there haven't been any notable student incidents within your new crew, you may find that the first three years of Transfiguration lagged behind your normal curriculum goals. However, you will be pleased to know that many of the students struggling the most with the material have caught up to average. Zoe's untrained style was to make certain that basic transfiguration skill was obtainable even to those not particularly talented in it or had issues wrapping their hands around it. You may also find her notes on some methods she tried to get those students caught up quite intriguing. So, if you can find a way to work her progress in that doesn't completely destroy your curriculum's time line, you might want to try it," Severus suggested.

"I was planning to switch things up a bit anyway," Andrew admitted.

"Good, then why don't you plan to meet with Hermione before classes resume to double-check any ideas on that," Severus suggested.

"Alright," Andrew agreed.

"Very well, that is for now. I'll let you both get resettled back into your routines," Severus said. Danny and Andrew glanced at each other skeptically and got up, the two of them walking down the spiral staircase together.

Severus became lost in his own thoughts, his mind going back to that Christmas when he had returned from the Otherworld. It was several minutes later before he heard a sound and looked up to see Aurelius come in, putting Quintin down.

"It's still playtime!" Quintin protested.

"Playtime does not including exploring under the castle," Aurelius retorted.

"Rasputin, don't let Quintin leave the nursery for a while. I really need to get this work done," Severus told his familiar. Rasputin lumbered into the nursery behind Quintin.

"Speaking of which, I need to get back to work as well. It's been much too quiet lately," Aurelius said. Severus glanced up at him thoughtfully. "Think it'll stay that way?"

"Don't you know better than to ask that question?" Severus asked flatly.

"What can I say? I'm bored," Aurelius said, grinning at his father's disapproving expression before going back to the office.


	4. Night Owls

Chapter Four

Night Owls

Maurice strode into the Owl Room, gesturing for Harvey Oxford to go ahead and have a seat at the end. Harvey was (regrettably in his opinion) built a great deal like his father, and the rest of the Owls had found it easiest to allow the bulky lad to get seated at the far end of the table before seating themselves. There was only one seat that hadn't been filled for that year: an empty one at Slytherin table. Maurice had been torn over who to pick once it had been decided that Harvey would benefit from joining, for Cain and Max had started dropping hints left and right. But recently the choice had become obvious, and neither of them were contenders in his mind. On the other side of the room, the Gryffindors (Natalie, Hope, Chuck, Chris, and Amy) had no openings that year, and it had been agreed last year that Kim, Leu, Paula, and Dasher would welcome Noah to the Ravenclaw side to fill Jessica's spot. On the Hufflepuff side, Halle Aster, another sixth year, had taken Winnie's position, which meant Hadrian was the only boy of his house with Diana, Karen, and Summer who had all come back for another year.

"Thanks for coming in tonight. I know everyone's probably in a rush to get unpacked," Leu said, "But Maurice wanted to get Slytherin's last member in as soon as possible, especially considering how long it's been empty."

"Sounds good to me," Hope said. "So who is it?"

"Her name is Viorica Eddy... she's a first year," Maurice explained when nearly everyone shrugged at that. "Her parents are both scientists. She's nearly as smart as I am, but she's had all sorts of problems because most of the lower year Slytherin students have been less than enthusiastic about her being in our house."

"It's not because she's a Muggleborn, is it?" Hope asked, squinting.

"She's hardly the first one that's been over there, Hope," Noah said.

"True, but typically Muggle-born and half-Muggles tend to shut up about their parents pretty quick once they realize that our house tends to favor old families," Maurice replied. "Viorica not only makes the mistake of talking about it, but any time she's not sure how something works she's quick to to spout off some scientific explanation which just sets her up for her housemates to come down on her. In fact, things have gotten so out of hand that there's also been a movement by one of the second years to petition Brittle to get her moved out of our house," Maurice said.

"Oh yeah? By who? I bet it was Maxen." Hope conjectured.

"I'm not saying and that's not the point. If she's an Owl, it'll give her a break from it and give me a way to intervene diplomatically. On top of that, maybe we can get her more acclimatized to the school so she's not constantly putting her ass in a sling," Maurice said.

"Sounds to me like she could definitely use our help," Leu agreed. "Any objections?"

Only the Slytherin students knew her, so when all four of them raised their hands, the others followed suit.

"That was easy," Hope said. "So when are we going to bring her in?"

"I will bring her along with me tomorrow after Runes II," Maurice decided. "Until then, we probably ought to get settled so we're ready for classes in the morning."

"I hate going to bed this early! I think I'll do some stargazing in my room first," Halle decided, getting up. "Do you want to come, Diana?" Nodding to her, Diana got up and joined her on the way out.

"Since when does Diana care about that sort of rubbish?" Paula asked critically.

"Diana and I have Divination this year," Karen explained as she got up. "We had homework over the holidays on weather, omens, and auspices. Maybe she had trouble getting it done."

"Weather's easy. I predict we will have more record snow and a late but robust spring," Charles said.

"Omens aren't the sort of predictions you get from reading Essie's weather almanac, Chuck," Natalie told him with a sigh. "It's more like rats leaving a ship before sailing, or birds going the wrong direction during migration, that sort of thing. It can also be things like cloud formations, strange lights, sounds, or strange events when doing daily tasks or work."

"Many of them are a lot like common superstitions," Karen went on. "In fact, most superstitions we hear in both our world and the Muggle world seem to be omens that have simply been misinterpreted or watered down over generations... rather like playing a rumor game, where what the person at the end of the queue says is hardly ever the same as what the first person passed along," she explained. "Lately, most of the portents revolve around spinning wheel analogies, and worse... a lot of them happen on Saturdays."

"Oh, I've heard some of those old superstitions," Summer said. "It's bad luck to leave thread on a spindle on Saturdays because work wasn't done on Sundays, so it was a waste of thread. The only people who still spun on Sundays were House Elves."

"Yes, there's even an old German superstition not to leave thread tight on the spindle because House Elves might come in and take over. They were rather frightened of elves, but I think it's because a lot of their bad faerie and good faerie myths were all mixed together," Karen said. "Either way, they have been very odd, and the only other thing that keeps coming up is a lot of birds flying out of formation or in awkward groups or with strays. According to our book, that's often a sign of social dissent or a revolt or insurrection within a country."

"Really? Now that's rather interesting. I wonder if someone's making waves with the bank again?" Dasher asked. The other students looked at him thoughtfully.

"He's got a point. It wouldn't be the first time by a long shot that the goblins revolted," Leu said.

"We've always had reason," Dasher said firmly, his eyes flashing.

"Well, maybe, but they really don't have a reason to now, do they?" Garvan asked.

"I don't know. Just how much do they hate you becoming a wizard, Dasher?" Keir asked. Dasher frowned at that, pondering it. But Maurice snorted softly.

"It isn't like omens are ever that direct, Garvan. And they may not mean anything at all. I'm sure if there were any tensions with the goblins, my father would have mentioned it by now anyway," Maurice said. "And while I admit that the fact these spinning wheel omens might mean something, I'm not so convinced that a few confused birds do. And I don't remember ever hearing of any goblins using any sort of spinning wheels."

"Well, there was one, of course, but he's been dead for hundreds of years," Dasher said. "And he was one of the most famous goblin dissenters of all time."

"That's right. Rumpelstiltskin used a small spinning wheel attached to a magical distaff. I remember us talking about it in history when I went to the goblin school," Leu said. "He was also involved in one of the earlier revolts."

"Hang on. Rumpelstiltskin was real as well?" Chris asked. "Does that mean he could really spin straw into gold?"

"It was probably flax, and yes, but I think it was the distaff that was charmed, and that is only one part of what that distaff could do," Dasher said. "It was said that he could use the distaff to put a large variety of magical charms on the thread that would affect whoever wore items made out of it. Fabrics that would enslave, embolden, protect, enhance... pretty much any charm you think of that might be benefit from being worn."

"I like that! That means you could make an Invisibility Cloak without trying to find an Demiguise beast," Natalie said. "I asked Harry Potter once if all Aurors got to have one, and he told me they were impossibly hard to get a hold of these days."

"Hard, yeah, but not impossible. It's not like this spinning thing is still around, is it? We would have heard about an item like that if it still existed," Keir pointed out.

"Do you know what happened to it, Dasher?" Maurice asked.

"Well, according to our history, Rumpelstiltskin got more than a little carried away with his power. It was largely because of his ability to influence the wizards of that time that they were able to extend Gringott's Bank to the surface, you see, and establish Diagon Alley. He became one of the most powerful bank officers in bank history, and he was the goblin who established first-born loans," Dasher explained.

"That figures," Chuck snorted.

"As you can imagine, he also accumulated a lot of enemies," Dasher continued. "When the revolts started again he was one of the first goblins targeted, so we believe that the wheel and distaff eventually fell into wizard hands. No one has seen it for hundreds of years."

"Haven't they? I wonder," Maurice said in such a tone that everyone looked at him expectantly.

"What is it, Uncle Maurice?" Leu asked.

"I have a hunch about that distaff, but we need to check some things first. Garvan, go out into the library and see if you can dig up everything you can on Rumpelstiltskin, and grab a copy of _Hogwarts, a History_ as well," he ordered.

"Right," Garvan said, getting up.

"I'll go help," Natalie offered, and the two of them rushed off.

"Karen, I suggest you modify your Divination homework to include speculation about all of this. If I am right, Professor Ravenclaw is going to know more about what happened to that distaff than we do," Maurice said.

"But what if it is just a wild hunch and we're completely off track on this? I'll get a bad mark on it," Karen complained.

"I don't think you will, Karen. I think Ravenclaw would be intrigued by the possible connection even if I am wrong," Maurice reasoned. "Dasher, is there any way you can find out if there's growing tension between wizards and goblins again?"

"I'll talk to my father about it, He's going to want to know why we're in the library this late anyway," Dasher said.

"Just how late is it?" Summer asked with alarm. Just then, Natalie ran in and put _Hogwarts, A History_ on the table with a loud thud.

"Garvan sent me back in to warn you that there isn't anybody else around and the lights in the library got dimmed. It's well past curfew," Natalie warned them.

"Maybe we ought to get to our dorms?" Hadrian suggested.

"Might as well stay out, now. The damage is already done. We'll get in trouble either way," Chuck said with a shrug.

"He's right. Let's just concentrate getting this work done as quickly as possible and I'll check any books we need out myself," Maurice said. "Let's make a copy of Karen's report and send it to the Headmaster, and I'll tack a note on it. It won't get us out of trouble, but it'll explain why we thought it was worth breaking some rules for."

"Is it, though? For all we know, all of this is just speculation and coincidence," Hadrian reminded him.

"Honestly, Hadrian! Where's your sense of adventure?" Hope challenged him with exasperation. "If you want to be accepted as a Snape, then you really ought to be acting like one. That goes for you too, Leu."

"No, I am all for staying up this time, Hope," Leu said seriously. "I am a bit curious to see if the spinning wheel premonitions might have something to do with Rumpelstiltskin, and I am also very worried about another goblin revolt."

"Don't worry about that part, Leu," Dasher reassured him. "Even if something has caused tension, it wouldn't ever come to that. Our economies are completely intertwined now, so every time there's a conflict, there's motivation on both sides to solve the problem before it comes to blows. Wrecking one wrecks the other."

"We should just concentrate on the spinning wheel omen and not worry about the bird auspices for now," Maurice insisted. Then he opened _Hogwarts, A History_ and set it on the table so anyone could read it. "This is what I was looking for: 'The Cloak of Icarus, also known as the Avian Cloak, was said to have been created by Salazar Slytherin and Leon Thames, who later became the first Master of Beasts at Hogwarts. It was made of various types of feathers and wings, and was thought to have tremendous power over all creatures that were a part of it. However, the existence of this cloak has never been proven, for all record of it ceased with the death of Icarus Ravenclaw, the supposed owner of the cloak.'"

"Professor Ravenclaw had an Avian Cloak?" Karen asked, getting a sudden chill.

"Yes, it was destroyed many years ago before any of us were born. My brother and sister were involved in all of that," Maurice explained. "I have a hunch they may have needed special thread for this sort of cloak, so either Slytherin or Thames had the distaff or someone else they worked with had it... probably someone else in the castle," Maurice conjectured.

"That's an awfully big stretch, Uncle Maurice," Chuck sighed. "You act like it's a big deal to put a magical cloak together. Even if some of the ingredients are rare, magical cloaks aren't."

"Have you ever heard of another Avian Cloak?" Maurice asked. Chuck shrugged.

"No," Chuck said.

"That signifies that something about it couldn't be duplicated. And what if what couldn't be duplicated was the thread it was made out of?" Maurice said.

"That's an awfully big 'what if,' Uncle Maurice," Hope said.

"Perhaps Professor Ravenclaw knows," Noah offered. "Do you want me to go get him?"

"Are you crazy? We'd all be caught for certain then," Harvey said. "Maurice, maybe we should be getting to bed."

"All right, as soon as Garvan gets back with those books. I'll check them out then show all of you a short cut to your rooms so you won't be seen in the halls," Maurice offered.

"Maybe I should go hurry him up then," Natalie said. But before she could get up, they started to hear

Garvan letting out a serious of "ow's" and "stop" protests and footsteps near the door. Because of that, they were all staring at it when it opened and Boulderdash entered, dragging Garvan behind him by one ear.

"Busted," Hope declared.

Boulderdash paused and squinted, noting that only two Owl members were absent.

"This had better be good," Boulderdash snarled.

* * *

Severus was more than a little surprised when he got to his desk that morning and found that he had an early appointment. Frowning at the names written in his book, he went into the back and saw to the disagreeable chore of waking Jennifer up early so that she could take care of Quintin's morning routine. Then he made sure the nursery door had shifted to her sitting room before preparing the tea, coffee and breakfast tray. There was a knock and Severus waved the door open.

"No need, it is I," said the voice of Icarus Ravenclaw.

"You are early, then. I have an appointment with Professor Boulderdash first," Severus replied.

"Yes, I know, but you'll want me to attend it anyway," Icarus informed him. "I had a rather intriguing home assignment turned in this morning by Owl Post. You'll be hearing about it soon enough."

Resisting the urge to groan, Severus sat down. Severus knew full well that anytime Icarus pointed out someone's Divination homework, there was one persistent outcome. He opened a side drawer and checked his supplies.

"Armando, remind me later to order another box of headache powders. I predict I am going to be needing them." Severus grumbled.

"Yes, that's probably a very valid prediction," Icarus agreed.

Finding the door already open, Boulderdash stepped in, glancing first at the hovering manifestation of Icarus.

"So you are involved in this, is that it?" Boulderdash accused him.

"Only indirectly, I assure you," Icarus said.

"Have some tea," Severus offered Boulderdash. "Don't worry, I haven't made his yet."

"It's no trouble, I'll have mine upstairs, thank you," Icarus said.

"Shall I start, or do you want to?" Boulderdash asked.

"No, no... you are first. The book says so," Icarus explained, sounding amused.

"I suppose I should start by saying there was an incident last night involving several students being out after hours. With your permission, I would like to handle the matter myself," Boulderdash said.

"Several students?" Severus prompted, frowning.

"Yes. Nineteen of them," Boulderdash said with a sneer. Severus stared at him. "Seventeen who were in the library after hours and two on the parapets."

"Parapets?"

"It seems they were concerned that they would be caught going up to the Astronomy Tower," Boulderdash explained. "However, after learning from the others there were two others unaccounted for, it didn't take me long to catch up with them."

"I see. And why, exactly, did the entire order all of the sudden decide to break curfew rules?" Severus asked.

"I never said it was the order," Boulderdash pointed out. Severus rolled his eyes at that.

"That's true, he didn't," Icarus agreed. "Perhaps you had better answer the 'why' part anyway," he suggested.

"Two of the students were talking about their holiday Divination homework and their friends grew very concerned that what they recorded might have been predicting a goblin revolt," Boulderdash explained.

Severus frowned at that and then held out his hand.

"Ah, you want this," Icarus said helpfully, handing him a scroll.

"You also may want to check the Owl Post," Boulderdash offered. "I believe Maurice Craw sent you something as well."

"So you're willing to admit he's behind this?" Severus asked, opening the scroll.

"I merely know that Mr. Craw may have sent you something you might find interesting, nothing else," Boulderdash protested.

Severus read Karen's assignment with a frown. Then the sorted through his morning post to find Maurice's letter and read that as well. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Were this sent to me by itself, I would immediately discount this as wild conjecture based on preliminary research and a lot of imagination and supposition without substantiated facts," Severus said. "Ick, why are you here?"

"You just answered that question, Severus," Icarus said calmly. "Because I knew you wouldn't give it a second thought if I wasn't here. And I am also here to confirm that the students are right about one particular fact: the Distaff of Disruption was indeed used to make the thread used in my cloak."

"The Distaff of Disruption?" Boulderdash repeated, unimpressed.

"Well, don't blame me. I certainly didn't name it..."

"One moment," Severus interrupted, standing up and grabbing his wand. He then turned around and opened the curtain, casting a spell on the door to padlock it and then cast a Sonorous Shield. He then turned to the opposite wall and cast a spell to make sure the nursery door wouldn't reappear without him being aware and lastly, he locked the double doors. When he turned back around, Icarus appeared to be even more amused than he was a moment before.

"Before we continue, I insist that both of you swear an oath of secrecy that you not breathe the name of any sort of missing magical item to my wife now or ever for the remainder of your employment and/or internment here. That goes for paintings, too," he said for good measure, glancing threateningly at the wall. Professor Rogue nodded in support, despite his skeptical expression.

"While I understand and sympathize with that demand, Headmaster, I don't believe our taking any sort of oath is going to work, considering there are nineteen other students who know about this, and one of them is Hope Willowby," Boulderdash reminded him, causing Severus to groan. "Another one is your wife's loyal brother. You don't have a prayer of stopping her from hearing about it."

"That is all I need after what she's been through the last year and a half," Severus muttered.

"It isn't our fault either, Severus," Icarus said calmly. "That assignment was quite textbook, actually, and designed to teach them how to log possible omens to follow up on if other signs emerge. It is simply that all the sudden there has been enough corresponding divinations to make it worth looking into, which they did splendidly. I rather think I ought to give them full marks, don't you?" Icarus said brightly. Severus gave him a dirty look.

"Boulderdash, is there any truth in the matter of possible tensions increasing again?" Severus asked.

"I doubt it, Severus. Despite the pressure being put on my family personally and their current disapproval of you for allowing Dasher in here, it has been fairly quiet politically," Boulderdash said.

"Then I'll take these repeating 'omens' as an advisory, otherwise I wash my hands of it. Boulderdash, after you've dealt whatever punishment you intend on the Order, have whichever Owl is put in charge of this 'goal' of theirs make an appointment with me to keep me updated. If either of you wish to advise them, feel free, but don't tell me about it unless it's something critical."

"Why, Severus! Are you really going to let the students investigate this matter on their own?" Icarus taunted him. He couldn't have been more entertained than he was at that moment.

"Yes," Severus said curtly. "Because it's the only way I know of that will keep Jennifer from doing it instead."


	5. Advising Andrew

_A/C: Happy Solstice, everyone! Well, that was a hellacious semester (as you may have heard on my twitter feed) and ten page psych papers are no joke for sure. But the good news is that's my last full time semester and it's all part time classes from here on out, and also my artwork is improved to the point that I feel brave enough to start working on covers as well. Along with getting back to this book (huzzah) some of my projects slated for 2017 will include: more college (but only part time) and setting up web pages and deviant art (although the last one will mostly be for Brony stuff) pages, Working on a painting series (or two) for my portfolio, and possibly starting on an orig. children's book, depending on how much time I have. I am still attempting to recover from last semester, but I have a few chapters I can edit and start getting out while I'm recuperating. So here we go, and thanks for hanging in there. Expect more chapters during the break!_

Chapter Five

Advising Andrew

Leu yawned loudly, shuffling towards the front courtyard and begrudging the extra walk after reading the note on the Transfiguration Room's door.

"Come on, Leu, you're dragging behind," Noah scolded him with a sigh.

"Easy for you to complain about it, you don't actually need sleep," Leu grumbled at him. "I don't see why we're going outdoors on the first day back anyway. In fact, I don't remember ever going outdoors for Transfiguration before."

"Hopefully the cold air will wake you up," Noah suggested. The doors seemed to open themselves when Noah approached them. A blast of wind hit him in the face, making Leu even more reluctant to head outside. "Come on! We're going to be late, you know."

It was still snowing, piling onto what was already a very deep snowfall. It was especially deep just off the paths, where someone (Carnegie more than likely) had carved out a path around the icy fountain and out towards the gate. Next to the fountain was an ornate crystal table with several small cauldrons on burners and a tower of cups. Keir, Meyers, and some of his other Slytherin mates were standing nearby it with steaming cups.

"About time you got out here," Keir said. "You look like you need coffee. I told you not try and take a nap after last night." Leu shrugged at him.

"What did he have you guys doing, anyway?" Apollo asked.

"Detailing the library... at least the non-restricted part. We had to dust every single bloody book, too. By hand," Keir added ominously.

"What? Don't tell me you had a detention already!" Matt Meyers scowled at them. "How many points did we lose?"

"No points, just sleep," Keir said irritably. "And the Headmaster said he's going to make us all write essays since, as he put it, 'we're so much more interested in research than curfews.'"

"I don't care as long as you didn't lose points," Meyers said. "Besides, you probably deserved it." Keir made a face at him behind his back, then when Meyers caught him, he quickly decided to join Leu and Noah. Fortunately, Meyers had noticed Professor Andrew coming down the stairs.

"If you haven't gotten drinks yet, now is the time... oh, sorry, Noah, I didn't know you were in this class," Andrew admitted when he saw him. "I thought you had it with Hufflepuff-Gryffindor this year." He pulled out a list from his cloak.

"It's all right, I don't need a drink. And I got moved back on account of taking Tangent's logic course during the second half," Noah explained.

"No problem, I'll remember next time we go out," Andrew said.

"Next time?" Keir repeated with a frown. "Is this going to be a thing now?"

"Consider it a way to review, and later this term to get a jump start on next year," Andrew said, checking off names as he spoke. "Once every three or four weeks, we'll be meeting outside of the regular classroom to teach you some practical uses for the spells you have been learning. I know that sometimes it's difficult to see how transfiguring objects can be useful at times, other than making sure there are enough chairs for everyone," Andrew said with an amused smile.

His class stared at him uncertainly.

"Did anyone here participate in the Snow Fort building competition a few years back?" he asked. Jimmy, Colby, and Meyers raised their hands tentatively. "Good, then I suggest you three make sure you split up into different teams... let's say five. Using what you learned from last year and the first half of this term, I want you to find construct a structure... it doesn't have to be a fort. As a matter of fact, I would rather you use more imagination than that. Use everything you know about water, snow and ice properties and build whatever you think showcases what you can transfigure out of them. And yes, you can use your books while you're planning if you like. Use only Transfiguration spells but use any that you like," he said. "All right, go ahead and assemble your teams and find a spot... if you're having trouble finding a team let me know and I'll assign you one."

"Well, at least we'll get to use our books," Leu said.

"Let's find a couple more," Keir said. "Then let's find a spot well away from Professor Andrew."

"He might help us out if we're close," Noah pointed out.

"I don't care. He's acting creepy," Keir said.

"Creepy?" Leu repeated with a frown.

"Yeah, in the way he looks at us. And did you see him smile?" Keir murmured, shuddering. Leu frowned in confusion as he followed behind, but noticed that quite a number of the other students in his class were wary of Professor Andrew as well.

Andrew wandered by Danny's office at lunch, frowning when he saw there was a snake on the door. Reluctantly he went towards the dungeons instead, peering in to see that his mother was having lunch in her office.

"Oh, hello, Andrew! Come and help yourself," Jennifer said warmly. "How did the outing with your classes go?"

"Hm, well they seemed to enjoy it, although both classes used the book a little more than I would have liked," Andrew admitted. "Especially my sixth year class."

"I did hear Severus say the OWLS average for Transfiguration was a tad lower than normal last year," Jennifer admitted. "And there is the fact that they're not used to practicing it out of the classroom. But really, the hands-on practice ought to do them all some good."

"Yes, Father thought so as well. Although... well honestly, I'm not sure they're too keen on me being back," Andrew admitted as he got himself some sandwiches. Jennifer looked at him thoughtfully. "They were giving me odd looks as if they've never seen me before. I felt as out of place as I did that first night in Duntolm." Jennifer nodded in understanding.

"Just give it time," Jennifer reassured him with a gentle smile. "You knew before we started school that it was going to be a big adjustment, and really, it's not their discomfort that matters." Andrew blinked and looked over at her in surprise. "It is more about your discomfort with yourself, Andrew. Once you've sorted that out for yourself, your class will adapt naturally."

"Time seems to have become my nemesis lately," Andrew admitted. "I either have too little of it or too much of it, and yet either way not enough of it to do me any good." Jennifer chuckled.

"Well, before you get too profound on me, Andrew, don't forget what Toby is always saying... the present is the only time that really matters," Jennifer reminded him.

"And right now I don't know how to deal with it," Andrew grumbled, but then looked up at the clock, wondering if he had enough time before his next class to go to Hogsmeade. Would the shop even be open?

"I'm sure he would be there, Andrew, if you really need him," Jennifer replied out loud, and Andrew glanced at her, unsurprised to see her fixed gaze on him.

"Thanks, Mother, I think I'll head out then," Andrew decided. Jennifer nodded with a smile as he left, glancing at the Severus portrait.

"I don't suppose Danny is planning to wander this way as well?" Jennifer inquired. The portrait pointed upward towards the study. "That would have been my second guess," Jennifer replied with amusement, then pulled out notes for her next class.

Andrew stepped out of Corey's shop and walked down the street, the weather keeping most of the business to a minimum. In fact, no one had even bothered clearing the snow except around the Three Broomsticks, which, Andrew conjectured with amusement, was probably packed with locals who were using the weather as an excuse to warm up at the bar. Casting the footprint spell on himself, Andrew made his way to Toby's Trinkets, and was quite glad to see that his shop wasn't busy either. As he stepped inside, he couldn't help but look around in amusement; quite a number of shelves were filled with boots, gloves, scarves, coats and cloaks.

"Ah, Andrew! I should have guessed you would be in," Toby said, sounding amused. "I don't suppose you need a new scarf? I have plenty."

"No, thanks, although I've never known you to have such a surplus," Andrew observed.

"It does happen on occasion," Toby said with a twinkle in his eye. "My guess is that there are a lot of people around who need coats, scarves and boots to go out in this heavy snow. The only problem is..."

"They don't have coats, scarves, and boots so they haven't gone out in it," Andrew concluded.

"Precisely," Toby said with a chuckle. "Anyway, what can I do for you?" Andrew thought about it a moment.

"I have no idea," Andrew admitted.

"I see. Some tea, perhaps," Toby decided, gesturing to the stool at the end of the counter. Andrew sat down and propped his head up on the counter. "It seems you might have the opposite problems that my other customers do, Andrew. They know what they need but can't get to my shop. You can get to my shop but you don't know what you need."

"That's it in a nutshell," Andrew said, and Toby laughed. It took a moment before Andrew looked chagrined. "You're right, that sounds funny coming from a squirrel."

"Having a good sense of humor is a good asset in life, Andrew, especially when you can learn to laugh at yourself... at least some of the time," he added with a chuckle.

"Something we Snapes aren't exactly known for," Andrew said.

"Oh, well, maybe not, but you are your own person, you know," Toby replied.

"Right now this person feel like he doesn't have a purpose anymore," Andrew brooded.

"I see. That's rather pretentious, however," Toby observed. Andrew frowned at him. "Your father got into trouble with thoughts like that you know."

"You think I'm having a mid-life crisis?" Andrew asked flatly.

"Well, an identity crisis at any rate. I'm not one to judge when 'mid-life' is," Toby said. "Although the causes of it coming to a head are different," he admitted with a face so somber that Andrew knew Toby still blamed himself for it to some extent. "Even so, I don't suppose you've spoken to your father about it?"

"I just got done speaking to mother about it, at least about how alienated I feel at the moment," Andrew sighed. "She told me it would likely take time to adjust, but at the same time it was important that I try to live in the present."

"Did she?" Toby replied, his expression brightening.

"The problem is, I'm not sure how to do that," Andrew admitted with a chuckle. "I'm making changes to my classes to try and make some leeway for myself with mixed results, but I don't know what to do outside of class..."

"First off, Andrew, since this is your first day back to work after a tremendous journey, I suggest you hold off on how these 'class changes' are going until both you and your students have had time to adjust," Toby chided him. "Second off, you really ought to talk to your father in more detail about what you're going through, and third... I must say, Andrew, this is the first time since I've met you that I remember you acting so much like your mother." Andrew blinked. "You've become over-conscience of your actions, how you are seen by others, and are quite sensitive all of the sudden."

"Raw, actually," Andrew admitted.

"What happened during the battle with Samira played a large part in that. I had to strip all of your barriers completely away so that you stood a chance," Toby said. "It was a cleansing, really. But generally speaking, Andrew, most people put their clothes back on after a bath."

"I don't want it to get build back up again," Andrew protested.

"You can choose whatever you like to wear, you know," Toby said, gesturing behind him.

Andrew turned around and stared at the shop before he burst out laughing. The entire shop was filled with clothes now; the shelves had socks, underwear, undershirts, swimwear, and sweaters, while racks displayed dress robes, regular robes, jeans, Bermuda shirts, lingerie and everything in between. It took some time for him to recover, but he couldn't help but feel a lot better after that.

"You're right, Toby, a good sense of humor does help," Andrew said, trying to get his composure back. "But I should probably put clothes back on myself. I don't suppose you have anything in here that can help me with my real problem? Dealing with my present while I'm getting back on my feet?"

"I have no idea. Why don't you look around again?" Toby suggested.

"It's going to be a chore in this jungle," Andrew chuckled, but got up anyway. Then he noticed a bookshelf back in a corner and became interested, going over to check it out. Something to read when he was having those moments of unsurety did sound like a good idea, he admitted to himself, looking them over. "This one is different than any I've seen in here before: _Magical Trips and Traveling Tips_."

"Ah! That is a good one," Toby said with interest. "Have you done much traveling, Andrew?"

"Not really, except for occasions where I've had to go fetch Alicia after one calamity of another. Most of my travels have been in the country, really," Andrew said. "And to the Otherworld, of course."

"And never alone," Toby added. Andrew thought about it and nodded.

"No, not ever alone," he agreed.

"Then perhaps that is good choice for you, Andrew. You could probably do with a personal sabbatical... to go out and explore the world as well as to allow yourself time alone to sort out all those self doubts you're having now. I think, Andrew, that it's more than likely that your feeling 'alienated' has more to do with the fact that you haven't personally come to terms with how you've changed since your journey to the Otherworld, rather than how others are reacting to those changes," Toby said.

"Yes, Mother said something about that as well," Andrew admitted.

"My goodness, I am so proud with how much she has learned in recent years," Toby beamed. Andrew grinned and nodded at that.

"It is a good idea, but I think my father would throttle me if I tried leaving now," Andrew said.

"True, but it's better to do research about destinations before going on any sort of trip, after all, and considering how little extra time you get between work and helping with Quintin, I am sure that book will come in handy by the time summer rolls around... that is, if you're considering it for purchase," Toby said.

"I think I will," Andrew agreed, pointing some coins in the jar and putting the book in his pocket. "Thanks for the chat, but I really need to get back before my next class."

"Quite alright. Don't forget my other advice either, Andrew," Toby said.

"Don't judge myself prematurely and talk to Father," Andrew acknowledged. "And my Mother seems to be giving out good advice."

"Decidedly," Toby said with a smile, nodding to him as Andrew left.

Toby grew thoughtful then, gesturing slightly to change the sign out front to change what it read. A moment later, a brown-cloaked figure hurried in with a box, barely acknowledging him as he hurried over to put in on one of the front shelves.

"So... is this about what I think it's about?" Toby inquired.

The cloaked wizard glanced at him before he picked up a music box in exchange from the item he left and then hurried back outside. Nodding to himself, Toby changed the sign once more. Then he straightened up the coat and scarves rack, making certain the pathway to the shop was clear of snow.


	6. Hadrian

Chapter Six

Hadrian

By the end of the week, Andrew was starting to feel less awkward teaching but the feeling of not being a part of things hadn't lessened at all. Even so, his first period class on Friday was one that he had been looking forward to; a double class of second-year Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw students. It was the first time he was going to have Dasher as a student, and he was quite curious as to what sort of student he was going to be. He also hadn't taken a good look at his roster beforehand, and it wasn't long before he realized he should have and that he still had some catching up to do.

Hadrian and Kai walked out to join the others on the Quidditch Pitch, wasting no time in joining the others already gathered there. The snow had stopped the morning before, so Professor Andrew had decided to move his class to an area where the snow hadn't been touched as yet. It was also a tad warmer, and the wind had died down to a breeze that wasn't quite as biting.

"This won't be so bad, then," Kai decided, following Hadrian over to where Dasher and his friends were standing. "I hope he doesn't give us as much work as he's been giving everyone else coming out of this class."

"It depends on how far behind the Headmaster thinks we are," Dasher said. "I heard Maurice say the reason everyone is getting extra homework is that Snape felt like Professor Zoe took too much time getting everyone caught up and classes are behind what they normally are for this time of year."

"I'm awfully glad she did that," Patrick Morris protested. "Transfiguration is my worst subject by far, and my father would have a fit if I didn't get high marks in all of my classes. I don't think I'd have gotten through water transfiguration without her help. She made all three of us with lower marks stay with it until we had it down pat."

"Considering that we are working with snow today, it seems to me that it is a very good thing," Edward agreed. "She wasn't a bad teacher, really, and I like that she didn't leave anyone out, but I also understand that Hogwarts needs to keep up its standards."

"I've been trying to read ahead when I have time," Hadrian agreed.

"I tried that, but I don't understand what I'm reading without a professor explaining it to me, so I gave up," Patrick admitted.

"I just get Hadrian to read it first and have him explain it to me," Kai grinned.

"Really? Well, maybe you and Dasher ought to come out of that Owl Room long enough to study with the rest of us then," Edward suggested.

"Sure, I don't mind," Hadrian agreed.

"I don't know how much time I have, but at the very least we can get the extra homework done together," Dasher decided. His ear twitched and he looked up as Professor Andrew approached.

"Go ahead and assemble on the stands for a moment," Andrew said. It was then that the class noticed that some of the seats now appeared to be cleared of snow and already dry. "As I'm sure most of you know by now, I am Professor Andrew, and unless there's some other unforeseen calamity I'll be your teacher for the rest of your time here. I understand that Madame Zoe has been stringent about getting all of you used to liquid transfiguration, so today's lesson shouldn't be too much of a strain for any of you. However, you will have extra reading and hand-outs this week so that we can concentrate on getting ahead so that you're more prepared for next year. I see I have the right number of students here... does anyone know if anyone in your house isn't present? Good, then let's just get started. We're going to be learning the Snow to Stone spell. It is not a permanent transfiguration of course, but it can be very useful building temporary structures since it can last up to twenty-four hours or so, depending on the temperature. Today you'll have your hand at making stone structures using snowballs... it can be model houses, walls, statues, or anything of that nature. Since this is a double period, you have plenty of time to get more elaborate. However, since you do have more time, expect more points taken off if your design is too simple. Either way, it does take time to get the hang of it, so I suggest after I teach you the spell that you practice with smaller snowballs until you get used to it."

"Rather vague directions, aren't they?" Kai commented before concentrating on the class instruction, getting out his wand. After a few practice attempts Andrew sent them out to make their snowballs, quite interested to see who the first one who was going to succeed at it.

"It seems rather odd to me that the spell doesn't seem to specify with type of rock," Hadrian said as he reached down to make his. "There are so many different types of rock that you'd think it'd be important."

"I expect it's because it's a second year spell. There is probably an extension for different types of stone that we're not learning yet," Kai suggested.

"I suppose we should find out what sort of rock the basic spells gives us then," Hadrian shrugged, waving his wand over the snow. The spell responded immediately but he paused to inspect his work. "It looks like a chunk of cobblestone."

"That's supportin' evidence for my theory then," Kai decided.

"Yes, I think so too. There's normally an extension used with this spell," Hadrian agreed.

"Even so, I can think of structures that would look good with that," Kai said. "It reminds me of one of those historic churches that's just down the road from my house. Maybe I'll try to make that."

Hadrian pondered that.

"Look! You have yours transfigured already? We've been having a time of it," Edward cried out as he and Patrick stepped over.

"No wait! I think I've got it now," Dasher called out to them, holding up a small rock, also apparently cobblestone.

"I think it's probably easier when you know what to expect," Hadrian told the others. Sure enough, Kai got his to turn on the second try. "You both try too now that you've seen what it's supposed to look like." It took them longer, but the two of them finally managed to get one, both looking at each other with a slightly relieved grin.

"Hadrian, come help me level the snow a bit so I can make that church, then you can have some of what we clear for whatever you're making," Kai suggested. "I'll need quite a bit of room... not only for the church, though. There was a graveyard beside it."

"A graveyard would be cool! Do you suppose we'd be allowed to team up?" Patrick asked enthusiastically.

"Why don't you go ask? I was going to do a manor house, but now that I look at this rock, I'm not sure it'd work for brick," Edward said.

"I think it would as long as we don't get too crazy on the scale," Kai said. Edward glanced over and watched as Patrick went up to Professor Andrew. He turned and waved before walking back.

"Mind if I get Dasher in on this? He seems to have a knack for this spell already," Edward suggested.

"Get whoever you like. I expect we could use some farmhouses to go along with a manor," Kai said.

"But not too close," Edward said.

"Hadrian, what were you planning on doing?" Kai asked, looking at the pile of stones that Hadrian had been piling up.

"I don't know. I was going to transfigure a bunch of snow and then figure it out," Hadrian admitted.

"Well, you are faster at that spell than everyone else, so why don't you help us scale this project and mark what goes where by making lots," Kai suggested. "We can make a whole town between us."

"Scale the project? Make lots? How do I do that?" Hadrian asked. Kai grinned mischievously at him.

"How else? Build some walls," Kai said. Edward snickered outright and then quickly ran to find Dasher. "You might want to start by marking where the cemetery is going to be, Hadrian," Kai added. Sighing in resignation, Hadrian took some of his rocks and went over to the cleared out area. A few minutes later, Edward walked up with Dasher.

"Where should I put the manor?" Edward inquired. Hadrian became thoughtful.

"Perhaps we should make a bit of a hill and a field area over there?" Hadrian suggested.

"We ought to have some shops too," Dasher suggested. "I can't imagine all of these humans living so close together without somewhere to shop."

Andrew watched from a distance with fascination, especially the thin dark-haired boy and his much shorter freckle-faced companion. The dark-haired boy took a moment to help a few students who were having trouble with the spell, and as they hurried over to catch up to the rest of the class saw that the freckled boy, who seemed to have been in charge early on, had managed to pass the control on to his friend. The quiet uncertainty in his poise early in the class disappeared, and soon students were going to him for their lot assignments and he in turn began to direct them to different areas of the pitch as if he were overseeing the entire project. Andrew pulled out a scroll, checking to make sure he had the right class on the seal before opening it to look over the class list, going down to the Hufflepuff side. Well, Ramsay made sense for the freckled boy... he looked similar to other Ramsay students that he had taught before, Andrew mused. But who was the other? As he got towards the bottom of the list, he read a name that puzzled him. He was about to walk over and talk to them when he sensed someone step up beside him.

"I see you have them working together today," Severus observed.

"It was their idea, actually, but it seems to have motivated them," Andrew said. "I had my upper classes working in teams, so I don't mind if they do the same. At the very least, they seem a lot more engaged than when they're in the classroom, and I think it'll benefit them from learning practical uses earlier on."

"If you can find comparable spells, considering the more practical ones tend to be more complex. I see they're making models," Severus commented in a tone as if questioning the practicality of that.

"It's a very basic shelter spell," Andrew protested with a chuckle. "They could have made anything they wanted, but this is the most obvious way to practice it. Either way, I believe I'll like this class since there is a lot of talent in it. One student in particular seems to be a natural."

"Hadrian, yes... Zoe has commented on it before. She mentioned that he also helped tutor some of the other Hufflepuffs who were having trouble with some of the concepts," Severus said. "Including Ramsay who seems to have taken Hadrian under his wing, so to speak. Sally was concerned that Ramsay would be a bad influence on him at first, but fortunately it has worked the other way around and Hadrian has steadied him somewhat."

"Yes, I noticed an interesting exchange between them already, actually, although I'm surprised that you'd be interested in it," Andrew said. Severus glanced over at him questioningly. "You tend to stay out of student interpersonal relations... 'that's what you have house advisors for'," Andrew quoted.

"I do unless one of my advisors brings up concerns about a student directly," Severus pointed out. "Especially last year... you have no idea how many hours I had to borrow to see to student affairs last term. Besides, even if Hadrian didn't have need of special attention, he is relation after all."

"Relation?" Andrew repeated with obvious surprise.

"Speaking of which, that is the real reason I am here. After class, would you ask Hadrian to join Maurice, Llewellyn and I for lunch in my study? Maurice can show him the way. I want to speak with them about an Owl matter..."

"Relation?" Andrew asked again. "How is he relation?"

"Uncle Augustus adopted him," Severus explained. Andrew blinked. "I think I have enough reason to keep an eye on him just because of that, don't you?" Andrew managed to nod, looking back at his class thoughtfully.

Hadrian hurried inside after class and got changed. He came out into the hall to find Maurice standing by their common room painting.

"I'm to show you up," Maurice explained. "Have you been up to the Headmaster's Study before?"

"Not really. I've only ever seen him when I'm having lunch with your sister, and then not for very long," Hadrian explained. "To be honest, I thought I'd see him more often since coming to Hogwarts, but he's not around except for occasions in the Great Hall."

"Actually, he's around a lot more than you might think. You just don't notice because most of the time you're busy with classes, homework, and Owl meetings. All the while, he's busy trying to keep it all going," Maurice said, leading him to the back stairs.

"I guess I don't understand just what it is that he does," Hadrian said. "There seems to be a lot more to being a headmaster here than just running the school. I would have thought doing administration would be easy by itself, but he seems to do more than that. My father says it's because Headmaster Snape spends too much time meddling in other things."

"Most of the time when he meddles it is not his idea," Maurice assured him, stepping into the corridor.

He sighed as they approached the Dragon Gargoyle, for Leu and Hope were standing in front of it, and Hope was attempting to stare it down with her arms folded.

"Just what are you doing here, Hope? I don't think you were invited to lunch, else he would have invited all three of you Willowbys," Maurice said critically.

"Well, Natalie is having lunch with Garvan, and Chuck decided now would be a good time to chat Amy up since Leu was going to be up here," Hope explained. Leu squinted. "Leu came in the Owl Room and asked for our reports, and when I found out who else was having lunch up here, I knew I had to come as well. After all, I am the vice-president of the order, you know, and you three are in different houses, none of which being Gryffindor. I came here to represent!"

"I doubt this lunch was supposed to be only an order function, Hope. I was under the impression it was going to be an informal affair," Maurice said, then turned towards the dragon. "Pride always goes before the fall of empires."

The gargoyle shifted out of the way and Maurice led them inside.

"That wasn't so clever. I might have guessed it had I enough time," Hope said. Maurice rolled his eyes and then climbed the stairs, opening one of the doors to let them in. Descartes cawed out loudly, causing Hadrian to hesitate at the door.

"It's alright, I'm sure he'll be here soon," Maurice said calmly. He walked further inside, noting the lunch trays and chairs. In fact, Hope didn't even have time to peek under the covers before the Headmaster strode in from the back room.

"Sorry, I had to make sure Jennifer was preoccupied," Severus explained, closing the doors.

"By which family member?" Maurice asked curiously.

"Minerva, actually, which I'm sure will work even better. Make yourselves comfortable," Severus said.

"Is this a formal or informal visit?" Hope asked.

"Since there is only family present, you may treat this as a family visit, although there will be some school business as well... reports?" Severus added, holding out his hand to gather them. "Hope, I don't remember inviting you."

"She invited herself," Maurice explained.

"That I believe," Severus said, taking the report from her.

"Well, I am the vice-president of the order and a Gryffindor, and I was under the impression this was Owl business, grandfather," Hope said.

"Fine, you may stay as long as I may hex you to keep you from speaking about this meeting outside of this room," Severus said crisply. Hope's jaw dropped. "Decide quickly, I don't have all day."

"Are you really allowed to do that?" Hadrian asked nervously.

"This is a family meeting instead of an official one and I have her father's permission. Don't I, Armando?" Severus said.

"Yes, Headmaster. You secured written permission from Corey before she was Sorted," the portrait informed them, Hope still looking flustered.

"There, you see? Staying or going, Hope?" Severus said, getting out his wand.

"Fine, I'm staying," Hope said irritably, folding her arms and watching as he silently tapped his wand at her and she felt a momentary tingle. "What does it do if I do slip up?" Severus smiled thinly in a way that she decidedly didn't like.

"If you're wise, you won't test it to find out," Severus said evenly. "I trust the rest of you don't need any further motivation to be discreet?"

"No, Father," Leu said solemnly, handing over a stack of reports.

"So I take it we're going to be talking about what we've uncovered about the distaff, Severus?" Maurice asked.

"Yes, among other things. Hadrian? Your report?" Severus asked.

"What am I to call you?" Hadrian asked as he handed it over, more than a little conscientious about the fact that none of the others were referring to him by Headmaster.

"During family visits, you may call me Severus, just as you call Jennifer by her first name during your lunches with her," Severus said. Hadrian frowned but nodded at that.

It felt almost natural to call Jennifer by her first name now but he didn't really know his cousin well at all, except for stories that Jennifer had told him about on occasion. Anna he knew much better, and he had been calling her Anna even before he was formally adopted. But the idea of calling the Headmaster by his first name felt so awkward that he decided to avoid it if he could.

"Get something to eat and we'll start. I have a class this afternoon, so we can't really be all day about this, but I would like to hear a general summary of what the Order has found out so far about this distaff business," Severus said.

"We've divided the workload into groups," Maurice began, picking something off the tray. "Diana along with Halle and Karen are leading a small group who are taking Divination this year to keep an eye on portents and Astrology, Garvan and Dasher's group are researching Hogwarts and goblin history in an attempt to figure out why this artifact would even be showing up in portents in the first place, and I am researching current events and corresponding with certain individuals who may have noticed anything out of the ordinary," he explained. "I contacted Essie Brim, who apparently has also noticed some strange portents about spinning wheels, which has come up off and on for several months, really." Severus frowned at that.

"Did anyone speak with Doctor Sagittari yet?" he asked.

"Yes, he said was that if the alignment of the stars stay on their current path that a great change was coming in the future, but he didn't want to tell us any more than that. Halle decided she would ask Professor Sinistra about it," Maurice said.

"Very well, I'll make sure they know they'll allowed to speak with you over this matter," Severus said, making a note.

"Oh, and I also asked Ambrose to ask his father about it," Maurice added. Severus squinted suspiciously. "But Mr. Toby said that it was important that he not interfere right now, and it was even more important that you and my sister didn't interfere. He also said that he approves with how you are handling this situation." Severus let out a soft moan.

"How I detest it when Mr. Toby agrees with me! It always makes me wonder if I'm doing the right thing," Severus complained, Maurice and Hope both sneering at that. "Fine, I'll get further clarification of that vague message myself during the next Hogsmeade trip. However, I suggest you take the hint and leave him out of this. What have you found out about the history of that item?"

"I can answer that. I'm on Garvan's team," Hope interrupted. "We found out that one of the early Herbology instructors of Hogwarts had the distaff for a while... a professor named Holda Hufflepuff." Severus stared at her. "I think it was probably Helga's younger sister, but I'll ask Ambrose to find out for sure."

"Why Ambrose?" Severus asked.

"I found the reference in his paper on _Hogwarts, A History_ revisions," Hope explained. Severus sighed and went to his bookshelf to pull out his copy. "But all it says in there is that she combined her talents as a weaver and herbologist to invent several charmed threads that became standard in the field and we still use them in charmed cloaks and robes even today."

"And she also made the thread used in the Avian Cloak," Maurice added. "That part is in my report also."

"For some reason that does not surprise me," Severus said, putting the bound revision on his desk and making another note. "I'll let Ravenclaw know to humor your investigation as well. I have a feeling that anything Ambrose may have learned about Holda Hufflepuff likely came from him. He may even be able to give you a clue as to what happened to it next. However, if this matter ends up going full circle and any information is found that even remotely hints that Slytherin had a hand in its disappearance, you will immediately come to me with it and allow me to handle it. Is that clear?"

"Sure," Hope shrugged while the others simply nodded.

"Does anyone not have a blank pass to my study?" Severus asked. Hadrian tentatively raised his hand, and Severus immediately handed him one, but then frowned when he noticed Hope had hers up more prominently. He pulled another off but then gazed at her skeptically as if reluctant to give her one.

"It'll be worse off if she doesn't have one," Maurice commented. Hope grinned at her grandfather. Deciding that any threats he would make would only serve to make her want to test them, Severus reluctantly handed her one.

"Don't make me regret that," Severus warned. "Leu, keep an eye on her." Leu nodded solemnly, while Hope grimaced at the idea, knowing full well that Leu was very likely to tell on her if she got out of line.

"Now that that's done, let's move on to other things, shall we? Hadrian, tell me about your Transfiguration class this morning. I hear you had a productive session," Severus suggested.

Surprised that he had been addressed and aware that the others were looking over at him now, Hadrian reluctantly explained the spell they had learned that morning. But after a couple of well-placed questions from Severus that made Hadrian feel like Severus knew more about how his class went than it sounded, he found himself telling them in detail about how they set up the miniature structures and what they had built. Fortunately, the others began to chime in and took the pressure off him, each one giving their own account of their experiences with Andrew's class that week and also gave him some insight on what to expect in some of his later years.

"It sounds to me like Andrew is doing much better now, at least compared to early on in the week," Maurice commented, drawing Hadrian out of his thoughts. "Although I wonder what his teaching style is going to be like when we get back into the classroom because it seems to have changed."

"I don't really think his teaching's changed all that much. I think it's just because he doesn't seem to be mad all the time now," Hope said. "Before this year he was slamming doors and getting irate over every little thing... it only got worse after Uncle Aurelius got married. But at Christmas he seemed to get along with everyone, even Uncle Aurelius."

"Everyone changes after visiting the Otherworld," Leu said solemnly. "Don't, they, Father?"

"Yes, but in different ways and in different degrees," Severus answered. "And how has Madame Brittle been doing this week?"

"She seemed okay at Quidditch practice," Hope said with a shrug.

"She did seem okay. But other than that, I have no idea," Maurice admitted. "She's been spending most of her spare time attempting to understand Viorica Eddy."

"Yeah. I don't think she has had time to act different," Hope agreed. "Viorica is such a handful! I don't know what we were thinking letting her into the Owls!"

"You're one to talk," Maurice said, Hope making a face at him. "She's there because she needed to be there."

"Did I need to be there?" Hadrian asked. Leu nodded, while Hope sighed with exasperation.

"If you have to ask the question, then yes," Maurice said.

"Biscuit?" Severus offered as if he hadn't even heard that part of the conversation.

* * *

It was inevitable that Jennifer would press on how lunch went the moment she arrived in Severus' sitting room for dinner, charming a dustpan to keep one step ahead of whatever Quintin might accidentally drop on the floor so that she could focus on Severus.

"After seeing how stiff Hadrian was around me this afternoon, I believe my decision to invite other student relations for lunch was the best approach," Severus said. "However, I did notice that he doesn't seem to be stiff when dealing with his friends, nor during your lunches together when I've 'accidentally' intruded."

"Yes, Severus, although it did take him a while to warm up to me at first. Once he's comfortable, he's quite forthcoming. In fact, he's also quite honest compared to most boys his age, to himself and to his friends," Jennifer said. "But he's not comfortable with being a Snape, Severus, or being part of any sort of family."

"Quite understandable, considering his background," Severus said. "After all, he's been passed around from one foster family to another since he was a toddler; first in the Muggle system, where he kept being passed on because of "odd" behavior, and then in ours... after it was realized his magical ability was to blame for the keen dislike that his foster families had developed for him."

"Yes, and then going from being Muggleborn to being 'rescued' by Wizard Family Services... and then having to adjust to wizard families. He went from being the 'odd' one to thinking how it was everything happening around him that was 'odd'," Jennifer recalled with a sigh. "I'm sure it must have occurred to him right away that his Muggle parents abandoned him because of his magic coming out. As he hated being passed around from home to home, I believe he had been hoping to skip having a family altogether."

"His fear is understandable, considering all of the reactions he has witnessed from adults over the years," Severus said. "At times he can be as aloof as Llewellyn and as guarded as Lucky, but in fact he is quite different than both of them. It is only the concept of a family he is wary of; the rest of the world does not frighten him. He is a bright student, conscious of others around him and their feelings. He listens well and analyzes situations in a mature manner. He has some natural leadership abilities because of those traits... I saw Kai playing off of those traits earlier today."

"Kai also tends to take advantage," Jennifer warned. "If Kai wants something done but gets in one of his lazy streaks, he'll give Hadrian enough hints that Hadrian takes over and does it for him. Kai has leadership qualities too but he tends to be a bit more manipulative, rather like Corey did on occasion when he first came to Hogwarts. Do you remember?"

"Yes, and Kai can be just as conniving as Corey was on occasion. Even so, he and Hadrian work well together, balancing out each other's weak areas. In fact, between the Order of the Owls, Kai, and his other friends outside of the order, Hadrian is adjusting quite well. His problems are solely related to accepting and being accepted into the family."

"Well, it isn't as if we aren't trying, Severus, we've simply been taking a cautious stance. At first I thought his trouble with adjusting was because of how many of his relatives are adults, but I notice he seems a bit aloof when it comes to dealing with relatives his own age as well," Jennifer said.

"Yes, I noticed that myself," Severus admitted.

"I do know how you can get him to warm up to you, however," Jennifer added, Severus glancing at her curiously. "All you would have to do is make amends with your uncle." Severus blinked and then stared at her, aghast. "No, really, Severus! Hadrian rather idolizes Augustus because he's been so good to him. Despite his fears, he does like having his own home and someone to call father, and he is happy knowing he's never going to be carted away from another one. He's also very aware of how Augustus feels about other people... Hadrian gets along decidedly well with Anna and Sirius because they visit. I think he's even warmed up to my father because he invites Augustus and Hadrian to dinner every now and again."

"There is really no reason to bring me into this, Jennifer. Does it really matter if I personally have a relationship with Hadrian or not?" Severus asked with exasperation. "My only concern is making sure that Hadrian is adjusting as a student and to his new family in general. I don't expect for him to get along with everyone, and certainly not me. Considering that I'm also his headmaster and rarely have time to interact with him at all, I would think it would be more productive to concentrate on his relationship with family members he can identify with. Don't you?"

"Yes, but you're the head of family, Severus..."

"I don't remember campaigning."

"Really, it's a matter of perception, Severus," Jennifer argued. "Hadrian knows that when there's a family crisis that you're the one in charge, and I don't think your uncle or my father would argue the fact that you are the head of the family. I don't think Hadrian is going to accept his position in this family until he is more comfortable with you. Besides, you really have been putting off coming to terms with your uncle..."

"Perhaps I oughtn't be head of the family," Severus interrupted, Jennifer sighing in exasperation. "Really, you are more into the whole 'keeping track of family' thing, and I have the entire school to worry about. Not to mention that the only person in the entire family that you are ever at odds with is your father, and even that has gotten better in recent years. Tell anyone you like, including Hadrian, that as far as I'm concerned you're the head of the family, not I."

"Can I get that in writing? And in front of witnesses?" Jennifer requested, ignoring the shrieking sounds of a violin that were coming from behind her. She knew the sounds well; the rogue painting was playing his "Danger! Danger! Emergency!" signal.

"Quintin is a witness," Severus decided. "Quintin, Mummy is now in charge... as if she wasn't already. Rogue, would you please pipe down? I know what I am doing," he added, glancing up only to see that his portrait was signaling that he emphatically disagreed with him. Severus dug through his stack of unmarked homework and grabbed a tardy slip, writing on the back of it. "To whom it may concern -namely family- Jennifer is now the head of the family. Take any and all problems that are unrelated to the school to her instead of me," he said as he wrote it down, signing it and handing it out.

"You are being very silly, Severus," Jennifer decided with a chuckle, but took the paper anyway. The rogue painting agreed with her emphatically, stomping out to warn the other paintings.


	7. Books and Research

Chapter Seven

Books and Research

After a cold but sunny weekend that allowed just enough time for all of the cleared paths to dry, students awoke to frosted windows and light but persistent snowfall.

"Do you suppose there's something unusual about all of this snow?" Leu asked Noah as he, Noah and Dasher gathered their books before breakfast.

"Not really," Noah said with a shrug. "It's true there's a lot of snow this year, but I've seen it even more packed than this several times before, and always with a spring flood," he shuddered. "Even still, no snow is as bad as the year Ciardoth made it rain all winter. I've never been so terrified in all my deathhood." Dasher sneered.

"I need to get downstairs. I don't have much time to eat this morning. Are you coming?" Dasher asked.

"Yes, coming," Leu answered, grabbing his cloak and following behind. "I do really get tired of snow after a while. I never had to deal with it much living in Myrkinbrek, and our ocean expeditions were always much further south this time of year."

"I hadn't even seen it before until we were apprenticed by Alchemist Willowby," Dasher said. "And I've only seen rain once before that... out the window from the ground level of Gringott's Bank during a school tour. It's all rather exciting, really, not knowing what it's going to be like outside when I wake up."

The three of them hurriedly ate breakfast then went their separate ways... Dasher towards Herbology and the other two towards Defense. They soon caught up to Colby and Jimmy, who had been trying to flirt with a couple of the Gryffindor girl who had pointedly ignored them on their way into the classroom.

"Hullo! Did you remember that we're starting cursed items today?" Colby asked.

"Most of it will probably be review for me, but yes, it'll be interesting to find out what we're looking at," Leu said.

"Review? All we've had was that demo before Christmas. Did Professor Craw teach you some spells?" Colby wondered.

"No, I had to learn basic detection for my former job," Leu explained as they went inside.

"Did you find many cursed items when you were diving?" Jimmy asked with interest.

"Every now and then, yes, but I wasn't allowed to take care of it myself. Goblins have some immunity to curses, so they always handled it," Leu explained.

"In that case, it won't all be review for you, will it?" Colby pointed out, finding his seat.

"Hey Jimmy, what spell did you write down on question nine?" asked Jack Delaney when they passed the Gryffindor side of the room.

"I'm not telling you!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"We were having a debate that's all," Jack explained. "I'll get Erin to go out with you if you tell me."

"Hey!" Erin York said, belting him in the arm. "If you try that again, I'm telling my sister."

"You lot better settle down. Don't forget that Professor Aldus said he was going to make a surprise announcement this week if we all behaved," Colby reminded them.

"I'm all for any announcements that involve canceling homework," Jack said brightly, sliding into his seat. Just then, Professor Aldus floated in with Professor Andrew following behind him.

"Keep dreaming, Mr. Delaney," Aldus said. Max shrugged and propped his head up in resignation. "And I suggest you keep your antics to a minimum. I have another set of eyes in the classroom, as you can see, since we are going to start on exploring cursed items today. And no, not even someone with my items expertise would be fool enough to handle a cursed item without a spotter, and I suggest you never try it either. But before we get started, I did say I was going to make an announcement this week, and you have the privilege then to be the first class to hear it. As you know, the next Wizards of MC book is being released the day before end of term, which I have heard many students say that they find the timing extremely inconvenient," he said gruffly. Andrew seemed slightly amused by it, especially considering the annoyed expressions on the faces of many of the students. "And yes, I have even heard about the rumor that many students are going to their advisors and requesting that all their newspapers and post be forwarded home a day early and requests to book stores holding parties that they be given a day late. Yes, well, I can't do anything about that particular problem, but I have been authorized to give out a limited amount of book copies." Some excited banter erupted until they began shushing each other. "Copies will go out to those who receive the top marks on their exams in my defense classes, as well the top scores in NEWT and OWLS for Defense. They will be delivered by Owl at 12:01... I trust you'll have some idea on whether or not you should bother waiting up in case you get a copy. Hopefully it will also motivate those of you who have been straggling behind since we returned from the holidays," he added sternly, the occasional grimace emerging from the crowd.

"Now, let's get back to work, shall we? Pass up your homework and we'll start by practicing some basic detection spells."

* * *

By the time Leu and Noah got to the Owl Room at lunchtime, details of the announcement had already spread throughout the school.

"I don't suppose he's giving out books to those coming in second highest?" Garvan asked.

"Or fourth or fifth..." Keir said ruefully.

"He didn't really say how many he's giving out. He wants to keep everyone motivated," Maurice said.

"Well, I am going to get one," Hope said smugly. "No extra studying required!"

"You'd be better off trying to get your History scores up to acceptable," Natalie chided her.

"Don't worry, Nat, I have it sorted. I got Professor Scribe to approve Holga Hufflepuff as my subject for my term research paper," Hope declared.

"It was a good idea, Hope, but you're going to be hard pressed to find out much information on her," Maurice said. "I spoke to Ambrose about it after our lunch with the Headmaster and he said that all the information he had on Holga came from Professor Ravenclaw. Apparently they had lost their first Herbology teacher early on and Holga came in as a special favor to her sister. He didn't find it in any book." Hope frowned thoughtfully.

"I suppose I'll have to do an interview with Professor Ravenclaw then," she decided. "Professor Scribe does allow us to use interviews as sources."

"Mind if I come along on that, since I'm supposed to be heading the history team?" Garvan asked.

"Let's go talk to Boulderdash about it so he can set it up," Hope said getting up.

"Any luck on the goblin end?" Maurice asked.

"Dasher is having his uncle send him some books about it," Garvan explained. "But just knowing where the staff came from isn't really going to explain why all these portents are happening now."

"You know perfectly well that I'm working on it. There has been nothing going on in the papers or at the Ministry that is out of the ordinary, and that includes goblin relations. The only thing that's happened of any significance there other than the bank's continued disapproval of Dasher's schooling is that Sludgebat managed to get a shop open again... this time in Heckletown."

"Well, at least it's not back in the alley," Natalie sighed.

"It won't matter. Our father probably had a fit," Hope said, knocking on the office door and going in, Garvan quickly joining her.

"Heckletown is the Myrkinbrek slum area, right?" Hadrian asked.

"It's more than that, really," Maurice said. "Goblins live there or take up shop there because the bank refuses to let them buy property anywhere else. Between that and the fact that the Ministry has banned him from any shops on the surface after what happened to Alex, he didn't have much choice left. He is completely discredited, and now that he's in Heckletown where few wizards dare to go, I doubt he'll get much business from wizards at all short of the occasional Owl Post order from someone buying poisons under the table."

"Isn't that a comforting thought?" Natalie said dryly. "Even so, I'm starting to wonder if we're reading too much into those revolution omens. There doesn't seem to be anything going on."

"Except that Doctor Sagittari has commented on a great change on the horizon," Maurice said. "Where are Halle, Karen, and Diana?"

"They were hoping to catch Professor Ravenclaw at lunch," Summer Mitchell said. "And they also said they might be a bit late for dinner, because they are going to drop by to talk to Professor Sinistra."

"If that's the case, we'll probably know more about this whole omen business tomorrow," Maurice said, then got himself something to eat.

The next morning, Maurice and his friends had breakfast in the main hall, his friends dutifully scouring the paper for him while they discussed plans for keeping their points in first place during the remainder of the year.

"Aster's getting up," Cain informed him when he saw movement from the Hufflepuff table.

"I'll meet you in Items," Maurice said and stood. Halle noticed his movement, slipping out the doors and waiting just outside of them until Maurice caught up.

"The Owls told me you and Diana have been investigating," Maurice said.

"Yes, I spoke to Ravenclaw and Sinistra both yesterday, although Ravenclaw didn't really tell me much other than to keep up my observations and that we're right to keep following both the weaver signs and the revolution signs," Halle said. "Can we walk? I have Transfiguration."

"Sure," Maurice said. "I spoke to Doctor Sagittari after dinner yesterday while you were doing that. He didn't have much time because he had company coming over, but he did tell me the change he spoke of was something large that would affect our entire society, and that sort of dramatic change doesn't happen spontaneously. Something has to cause it, but he couldn't tell what yet."

"I think it's because it's still winter. I think we need to wait until the skies are closer to summer before we see more," Halle explained. "You see, I asked Sinistra about the most significant references to weavers in asterims, and she said the most significant reference has to do with a Chinese legend about a weaver and a cowherd, separated lovers who meet only once during the summer. They're represented by the Summer Triangle, so after consulting Professor Ravenclaw, it is her hypothesis that these omens are all about something that's going to happen in the summer."

"So we have a time frame," Maurice murmured.

"Yes, but for what? And what are we supposed to be doing?" Halle asked.

"I suppose that your team and my team need to simply keep monitoring the situation while Garvan's team finds out as much as they can about that distaff," Maurice concluded. "Other than observations, we can safely concentrate on schoolwork for a while." Halle grimaced at that.

"Lovely! I'd be doing much better if there was more emphasis in Divination and Astrology and a lot less on Potions and Transfiguration!" Halle said with exasperation.

"You know you're one of the only students that feel that way, right?" Maurice asked her. Shrugging at him with a grin, Halle stepped into Transfiguration and Maurice kept walking towards the dungeons.

Cain, who had taken the direct way there, was already getting his project off the shelf and had sat down in his place with a cup of coffee. Looking at his project as if he hadn't seen it before, Maurice went over to inspect his work.

"These fabric swaths are a great deal larger than I remember," Maurice said.

"I worked on it over the holiday," Cain explained.

"More than you did your Defense assignment, as I hear it," Jennifer said from where she stood near the breakfast cart. Cain grinned sheepishly at her.

"So this is a water tight fabric and this is a tent fabric of some kind?" Maurice asked.

"Well, sort of. Professor Craw gave me some samples of fabrics she had off her boat, so I based that on a sail fabric with a wind charm on it, only I'm trying to make it so that the fabric isn't damaged by storms," Cain said.

"Well, what kind of thread are you going to use with those?" Maurice asked.

"I haven't really gotten that far yet. I've just been using the samples she gave me to practice how to add charms and protections to this kind of material," Cain explained.

"Professor, am I ready to experiment with textiles as well? I'm about done with my totem project," Maurice said.

"Oh, well, I suppose, although if you get too elaborate, you may end up having to self study," Jennifer admitted. "I do know how to charm fabrics already made and I've had plenty of lessons and transfiguring ready-made fabrics as well, but fabrics from scratch is not my strong point. However, there is someone on staff who might have some books to help you get started," she added thoughtfully. "Professor Aldus is an expert in that area, at least compared to me. In fact, I believe he studied textile items even before he got into publishing. He might be willing to help... you know how he gets when you get him on the topic of items."

"Yes, he gets like you do," Maurice said.

"And with that parting shot, why don't you get that totem done?" Jennifer tsked at him. But Maurice wandered over slowly, watching the door as others came in, and cornered Garvan on his way to the table.

"How are you doing with your project, Garvan?" Maurice asked as Garvan slid the Bludger bat out, somehow managing to come out of the small cubby with no trouble.

"Getting there," Garvan said, inspecting it before pulling out a jar. "A few more coats of this, and I'll be ready to test it out at practice."

"Well, do you mind if I sit with Cain after today? I want to learn how to make magic thread," he explained.

"Going to combine studying with Owl research too, are you?" Garvan said knowingly. "All right, as long as you can peel Natalie away from Emily, I'm game."

Jennifer didn't comment when Maurice spent the better part of the Items class negotiating partner changes. She didn't even question him when he stayed behind to get a pass to see Professor Aldus during his conference period. She had first year Potions after that, and was grateful that there wasn't a big mess to clean up afterwards so that she could slip over to the Lift and into the study, finding Severus working at his desk.

"Just what exactly is my brother and those Owls up to?" Jennifer asked.

"Oh, it's a working lunch," Severus decided, glancing at his appointment book thoughtfully.

"Never mind that, it'll only take you a moment to answer," Jennifer said.

"Perhaps if I knew what you were referring to..."

"Don't you give me that," Jennifer said, walking over to the desk. Seeing what she had focused in on, Severus closed his appointment book. "Oh come now, Severus, you know you can't hide from me forever. Ever since we got back from the holidays, the Owls have been extremely preoccupied with Divination of all things, and worried about some sort of goblin revolt, which makes no sense to me whatsoever. Then today, Maurice decided he wanted to learn how to make charmed thread for his second half project, and it has something to do with their Owl goal which has something to do with a missing artifact of some kind."

"True enough. Jennifer, has Icarus ever mentioned anything about a distaff to you? One used in weaving magic thread that one of the professors here owned at one point?"

"Yes, I think so. He did mention something about needing magic thread to make the Avian Cloak, which only makes sense, since something powerful would have to be used to bond those different beast and bird feathers together into one working item," Jennifer said.

"Apparently Halle Aster has been picking up all sorts of references to spinning and weaving in her Divination homework and decided to take it to the Owls, who are now conjecturing that the distaff may have been the same artifact that Rumpelstiltskin used to turn flax into gold," Severus said. Jennifer laughed outright at that.

"That is quite a stretch. You may as well have paired it with the Craw's cursed spindle, if Maurice didn't already know it was destroyed now," Jennifer said.

"Fair enough, the odds are against it, especially considering just how many items we used to weave were heavily charmed before industrialization. However, I see no reason to stop the order from researching it... to cultivate their enthusiasm for history and improve their research and study habits, if nothing else," Severus said.

"Then why do I get the feeling this is some ploy of yours to keep me out of it?" Jennifer accused him.

"Perish the thought," Severus said, but hadn't bothered hiding his expression, as stoic as it was. Jennifer put her hands on her hips. "However, since you brought up the subject, the fact is that this research is one of their Owl goals now; it is school business and I will be monitoring their progress. As I've already informed other members of the faculty, I ask that you stay out of it other than to answer questions when they need assistance and also to inform me if they plan anything particularly dangerous..."

"They'll be down in that Chamber in less than a month," Jennifer said primly.

"Hermione is organizing the pool this time if you want to participate," Severus answered calmly. Rolling her eyes at that, Jennifer plucked a sandwich off the tray. "Besides, now that you're head of the family, I doubt you have time to get involved in this little school matter."

"Now that you mention it, I have been busy," Jennifer said with an enigmatic smile. "After Rus' training session yesterday, I happened to have lunch with Anna and your uncle." Severus squinted at that. "I invited him to come visit on our next Hogsmeade trip. You did say you were going?"

"I am going as a Headmaster. Not as family," Severus said. Jennifer laughed silently at that.

"Hogsmeade has always been both, Severus."

"I'm starting a new rule," Severus said curtly.

"Good luck enforcing it."

"I'm not playing along with an obvious attempt at getting us to 'talk things out'. I'll meet with him only as a parent and in no other capacity," Severus said resolutely.

"Very well, Professor," Jennifer said, leaving Severus feeling unconvinced.

"But I will go out of my way to avoid him on that trip unless you promise me that you will stay out of your brother's bit of intrigue... except when they ask for help," Severus said firmly.

"Very well, Severus, I promise," Jennifer said. But Severus noted that she sounded much more sincere now. After all, she respected her brother too much to interfere, Severus mused. It wasn't as if this sort of investigation was going to get him into too much trouble...

"One month and two days," Jennifer decided, smiling when Severus fixed his gaze on her. "Of course I trust Maurice, Severus, especially now that he's learned he can come to me about anything. Besides, it's time he learns on what it means to be a Craw. What better way than letting him get involved in something like this?" Severus blinked at that.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all," Severus said out loud Jennifer laughed softly again, but was content to change the subject to other family matters.


	8. Ambrose Points Things Out

Chapter Eight

Ambrose Points Things Out

Maurice watched with interest as Professor Aldus opened a box and took out what looked like a top with a small hook that sat on top of a slender, wand-length tapered piece of wood.

"This is a drop spindle with some basic weaving charms to prevent breaking, tangling, and to keep it spinning once you start twisting it," Aldus explained. "You may borrow this to practice with until you can get one of your own. You'll need to tie this combed wool to the lead thread like so, and then learn to control the amount that gets fed onto the spindle as you go."

"Does it have to be wool?" Maurice asked.

"Spinning isn't as easy as it looks, Mr. Craw. Prepared wool works well for a beginner, and you'll find the yarn will be able a variety of basic charms that works with textiles," Aldus assured him.

"I was hoping to make thread that'll work with Cain's survival fabrics but this looks like it's going to be too thick," Maurice said, frowning at his string. "And lumpy." Aldus chuckled.

"That will improve as you figure out the right tension," Aldus said and then went over to the shelf. "I will also loan you a couple of books. I trust you will be careful with all three items."

"Thank you, Professor. I don't suppose that more complex charmed spinning wheels would make it easier to spin?" Maurice asked, carefully putting the drop spindle away.

"The more complex the device and the more complex the charm, the more skill it would require to use it. Spinning charms must be chanted or sung at a constant pace to match the yarn or thread, you see. Besides, you'll benefit more by learning how to spin one step at a time," Aldus said. "May I ask why the sudden interest? It doesn't seem like you to be learning a craft just to help someone with a project."

"I am planning to become an items specialist for my father's excavation company, so I'm sure I'm going to be running into this sort of thing," Maurice reasoned, "and I'd rather understand how it all works first hand. If I were using a distaff, how would that work?"

"Well, a distaff is simply a rod that holds the working material. Some are held under the arm and can be used with a spindle like this, and others are attached to a spinning wheel so that your hands are free," he explained.

"What about... well, Dasher was telling us that Rumpelstiltskin might have had a charmed distaff. It would have been the type made to attach to a spinning wheel then, wouldn't it have been?" Maurice asked.

"Goodness no, the distaff he was using was much older... it had its start long before spinning wheels were imported to Europe. He used a very special spinning wheel that he had built specifically to take advantage of the charms placed on it... it enhanced its power and allowed the thread to be used with even more complex charms," Aldus explained.

"And what happened to them then?" Maurice asked.

"No one knows... that was back during one of the first goblin rebellions," Aldus shrugged. "It could be in a bank vault, for all we know, or it could have been confiscated by the Ministry at some point." Maurice grew thoughtful. "Anyway, here are your books. I trust you'll take care of them."

"Thank you for all of the help, professor," Maurice said, taking the books and the box and hurrying out. Aldus watched him go, becoming quite thoughtful himself.

Maurice wasted little time getting to the Owl Room with the box and book still in hand. Ambrose was sitting at the desk putting card pockets into a stack of books, while Garvan, Natalie, Leu and Keir looked up in surprise from where they were studying at the table.

"I take it that Aldus was willing to help?" Garvan asked, noting the box.

"Yes, he helped in more ways than one," Maurice said, grabbing a piece of paper. "I need to get a letter off to Alex before our meeting tonight. I need to find out what happened to the distaff and Rumpelstiltskin's spinning wheel after the goblin rebellions. It may have fallen into the hands of the Wizards Council or the Ministry... maybe even Equinox."

"Really? Are you sure she has time to help with something like that?" Garvan asked.

"Knowing Alex, she'll make the time for it if she's intrigued by it," Natalie said.

"Either way, obviously it needs to be checked. Nobody has heard of the distaff since then, or the spinning wheel, so if it left goblin hands, it would have been then," Maurice explained.

"What if it didn't? Maybe the goblins still have it," Leu said. "It'd be like them to horde something like that, especially when it belonged to one of the bank's most important governors. It's probably in a vault somewhere, and if so, they're not going to tell us about it."

"Yes, that's why I think it is the more logical route to take. If we can find out for sure if wizards got a hold of it, then we'll also know for certain whether or not the goblins currently have it," Maurice said.

"Well, it's true Alex will be able to rule out whether the Council or Ministry took it, Maurice, but there's no way she's going to be able to rule out Equinox, even as extensively as she's researched it," Garvan warned. "Equinox was at its highest membership and largest influence in the late seventeenth century, around the same time the Statute of Secrecy was signed... during the time when goblins were fighting over bank control, as you might remember."

"But some of the stuff that happened in the Council just before the Ministry formed is a bit vague, due to the chaos going on around the country. I wonder if the goblin history at that time period is more detailed?"

"It definitely is. The fight over bank control was one of the leading tensions causing the rebellions if you ask me," Leu said. "It's covered extensively in goblin school, but it's not discussed very heavily in our history. Unfortunately, I don't have any of my old books because I sold them back to save some money."

"Why don't you get with Dasher about it then?" Maurice suggested.

"Do you think Scribe will let me choose Gringott's for my term paper?" Noah asked. Leu shrugged at him.

"It's worth a try," Leu said.

"At this rate, all of our history papers are going to have something to do with the distaff," Garvan chuckled.

"A good use of time if you ask me," Natalie agreed.

"I'll see you later, all. I'm going to go run this up," Maurice said.

"Mind if I walk with you? There is some library correspondence that needs to go out as well," Ambrose offered.

"Sure," Maurice said readily, waiting for Ambrose to finish what he was doing and grab the post from the out box on the main desk.

"You seem pretty motivated now," Ambrose commented as they left.

"I am, I admit it. I feel like I'm onto something big somehow," Maurice said. "I thought it might help to learn spinning so that we understood how it worked and give us some clues as to why it keeps coming up, but after talking to Professor Aldus, I'm quite sure that knowing how to use it is essential. You can't really stop something if you don't know how it works."

"Are you certain it's something you're meant to stop?" Ambrose asked. Maurice gazed at him thoughtfully. "All anyone really knows is that there have been a lot of omens lately about spinning wheels, change, and a revolution, and the only reason any of you know this distaff is connected is because Professor Ravenclaw confirmed it. But what if the whole reason there is a revolution is because you Owls start snooping around and find it? Maybe you find it in wizard hands and the goblins get worked up and want it back? Self-fulfilling prophecy."

Maurice stopped short, staring at the note in his hand and wondering if he should even send it.

"I don't like the sound of that," Maurice admitted. "Just what are we doing? And are we doing the right thing? Maybe we shouldn't be doing anything. But how would we know?" Ambrose rolled his eyes, pulling Maurice's arm towards the Owlery.

"Come on. I need to send these out even if you don't send yours," Ambrose reminded him. "Although I really think that you ought to send it."

"It would have been easier if you hadn't said something to make me second-guess myself like that," Maurice complained.

"You're always second-guessing yourself," Ambrose said with exasperation.

"I am not. Well, not about everything," Maurice protested.

"You're right, you only second guess yourself when it's personal. You're steady on when it comes to duties to your family and your house," Ambrose said. "It's when you're trying to figure out your own feelings that you waffle about a lot."

"Do you mind?" Maurice said irritably. "I don't go on like that about your flaws."

"Why don't you think of it as concern over your family? If these signs are correct... and they may not be... how would your family be affected if there was some sort of goblin revolt?" Ambrose asked.

"My family? I suppose it would affect anyone working in the Ministry first," Maurice mused, then glanced at his note again. "I need to send this off."

"Right," Ambrose agreed, and the two of them continued up to the Owlery.

Ambrose came home that night to find his mother attempting to clean the kitchen.

"Why is the kitchen such a wreck when we've been out of the house all day?" Ambrose laughed, accepting the towel she handed him.

"He has quite the talent for it. I knew I should have made a quick lunch for him rather than to leave him to his own devices. He really can be quite disorganized when it comes to his living space," Ashley said.

"I think he likes it that way, Mum. After all, he could probably clean all of this up in a snap if he wanted," Ambrose said, taking the dishes to the sink.

"Then I wish he'd snap more often. He's not the only one who works all day," Ashley said, looking in the ice box. "It seems he hasn't gotten his dinner yet. I don't suppose you'd run it over? Perhaps we can stop a repeat of it from happening again before we get up in the morning."

"Yes, Mum. But if it does happen, I don't need to be in until noon, so I'll take care of it," Ambrose promised, taking the tray and walking it over to Toby's Trinkets.

Halcyon greeted him cheerfully as he entered to find the place empty and his father busy behind the counter carving a new wooden toy.

"Good evening, Ambrose... oh, is it that late already?" Toby said, barely looking up from his project.

"I have your dinner," Ambrose explained. "How was your day?"

"I'd say that I am finally getting back into the groove of things," he said with a chuckle as he pointedly smoothed out the groove he was carving out. "I am hoping to get one or two more of these done before the school's next Hogsmeade trip."

"I hope the snow clears out before then," Ambrose said.

"I bet Severus doesn't. He' probably relishing just how much work the students are getting done since they don't have something better to do," Toby said, and Ambrose laughed at that.

"Well, if you ask me, it's made things at the school quite dull this year. Actually, it has been since you got back..."

"I beg your pardon?" Toby furrowed his brows.

"What I mean was we were too worried to be too bored before that," Ambrose explained.

"Oh. Well, there was no need, since things were quite under control. Mostly. That is to say... oh, let's just skip it..." he paused as the door opened and a brown-cloaked figure came in, dropped a box off on the shelf, then grabbed a small basket and left. "Anyway, I'm sure Severus..."

"Who was that?" Ambrose interrupted him, standing up. "Did you see what that wizard just did?"

"Oh, you saw that did you?" Toby replied unconcernedly, unpacking his dinner.

"He just put something on the shelf and then went and grabbed something else..."

"Ah, yes, he does that. Care for some tea? I trust you've eaten," Toby offered.

"But who is it?" Ambrose pressed.

"A trader of sorts. He works for me, obviously, so pay him no mind. However, I would appreciate it if you also ignored his comings and goings if you happen to see him here while you're minding the shop on your own."

"If he works for you, how come I haven't seen him before?" Ambrose asked.

"Um, well, he just started helping recently. But that fact of the matter is that I do have him tied into the shop, and it would really throw a wrench into my tinkering if you mentioned it just now. In fact, the only reason you probably see him at all is the fact that I let you run the shop when I'm not home; the majority of people who come in here won't see him at all. Suffice it to say that he is here to make sure things are running properly in the shop for a while. It's terribly vital that he's allowed to do his job unhindered and if I told you or anyone else more than that, he would not be able to do his job unhindered. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Ambrose said thoughtfully, wondering what was in the box he left. "I take it part of his job involves making sure that certain items are available in the shop and he exchanges it for something he needs in return."

"As you saw yourself," Toby agreed.

"Is he here because you still don't remember everything that's coming? And because of that, you don't always remember what needs to in be here?" Ambrose asked. Toby stared at him until he realized he was staring, and then made a play at cleaning his glasses. "So that means you found someone who does know what's needed to come in and do shop maintenance for you. And since he knows exactly what is needed, he probably knows _too_ much... and it's important that no one else knows that there's someone else around besides you who knows too much."

"Are you going to keep this quiet or not?" Toby asked, looking quite ruffled.

"Absolutely. I promise I won't mention it," Ambrose reassured him.

"Thank you," Toby said curtly, handing him some tea. "You're too smart for your own good, you know. Perhaps you should work on not showing it off so much."

"Even to you?" Ambrose challenged him with a thin smile. Toby thought it over.

"No, go ahead and keep me on my toes, or I might forget the need to stay on them," Toby decided. Ambrose's smile grew while Toby still seemed on guard as he settled down to eat.


	9. Head of the Family

A _/N As promised on my twitter... a new chapter! Sorry it's been so long, but I'm now done with my AA in fine art and it's time to set up shop again... hope some of you still have me on your list. I'll be setting up a website, discord, and so forth shamelessly plugging my art and writing for both fan content and original content. The fan content will come under the name of Doublequill because I'm consolidating interests...( I already have to have separate sites domains paid for my fan work and fine art, and I seriously can't afford to do more than that) I haven't started a mailing list yet, but I guess that is also going to be in my future. Right now I'm doing updates on twitter (under both jcwriter and doublequillmlp for now.) I may even offer opportunities for sneak peaks in chapters, concept art, and so forth on both fan and original works. Thanks for hanging in there!_

Chapter Nine

Head of the Family

January soon turned into February; and although the snow had tapered off noticeably from the dramatic amounts that had been falling before, the snow off the paths never seemed to go anywhere thanks in part to the persistent cold and dreary grey skies.

Maurice stepped off the bus to find Alex waiting for him.

"I take it this is a working trip for you?" Max asked him.

"You and Cain go on, we'll catch up," Maurice said.

"Honeydukes first, I think," Cain said, and the two of them walked down the street as Garvan and Maurice went over to Alex.

"Is he cleared?" Alex asked, thumbing her finger at Garvan.

"He's heading the team researching the artifacts history," Maurice explained.

"Let's go to the Pannage then. Nobody's going to be there this early but grandfather's friends anyway," Alex suggested. "Any other appointments on your list today?"

"Beth is joining me for lunch, and Essie Brim is meeting me later on to show me some basics on preparing and working with different types of wool fibers," Maurice said. "And also to give me an update on all of these premonitions happening."

"Well, I admit that is part of why I'm intrigued about all of this," Alex said, but didn't say another word until they got inside the Pannage. "Anyone in the back room, Brogan?"

"Not this early," he said, taking her money off the bar and sliding over three bottles. Alex passed them out and led them to the back room.

"So how did you get from these vague premonitions about spinning wheels to looking for that distaff, anyway?" she asked.

"We got to talking about the revolutions and Dasher mentioned the spinning wheel, then I remembered the distaff from something Ravenclaw said," Maurice explained. "Ravenclaw was the one who said that he thought the distaff had something to do with what's going on now."

"Interesting... and maybe a bit manipulative," Alex said. "You do understand that sometimes Ravenclaw likes to hint at stuff like this just to stir things up?"

"Yes, and Ambrose warned me that if I'm not careful, we may be self-fulfilling the premonitions going on," Maurice sighed. Alex nodded.

"Good, I'm glad you're aware of it then... not that I don't mind the odd artifact search now and again. But the fact you're asking me about Rumpelstiltskin indicates that you must have already found out that you're actually searching for two artifacts, not just the one," Alex said.

"The distaff itself, and a spinning wheel designed to work with it," Maurice confirmed.

"Right, well apparently those items were confiscated during a raid around the time of the eighteenth century rebellions, just after the Ministry was formed," Alex said. "And right after they passed the Heirloom Act."

"So the items would have been first offered to the original owners," Garvan concluded.

"Except one of those items was invented by a goblin, one important to bank history on top of that," Alex said. "Obviously they're not going to return it to the goblins during a rebellion, and they really didn't feel safe keeping it in the Ministry either. From what I've been able to find from the records, the distaff was "returned" and the spinning wheel was "given to a qualified items specialist for safe keeping."

"They didn't say who?" Maurice asked with a frown. "Not even in unofficial records?"

"They were trying to protect its location during a time when it'd have been very dangerous for the goblins to know that information, so it's not that unusual that they didn't write it down," Alex explained. "I suppose I could go to the trouble of getting you a list of the most likely items specialists who had could have owned it during my spare time, but honestly, I think we can guess who has it now."

"Someone in Equinox, more than likely," Maurice said. Garvan sighed at that. "So who was the distaff returned to?"

"That wasn't stated directly either, but I did find something interesting about it in old Wizard Council notes. It was a complaint by Headmaster Undercliffe that that the distaff had gone missing from the school's collection... that was back in the fifteen hundreds when the wizards were attempting to control the bank."

"So assuming that was the last mention of it and there were no further complaints on the issue, more than likely it had been found and the Headmaster had no reason to bring it up again. That means the distaff was probably returned to the school," Maurice concluded.

"But if it's in the school, why doesn't anyone know where it is?" Garvan asked with exasperation. "You'd think at least the House Elves would have noticed."

"It might be very plain in appearance... it may just look like a regular staff and without a spinning wheel there's no hint to its original purpose," Maurice explained. "But I think I have figured something out just now. If these two items were separated a long time ago, I think the omens that have been appearing is a warning about what might happen if the two of them are used together again. That's what can cause a rebellion," he said, pondering it moment longer before nodding. "Maybe it's just a hunch, but I'm quite sure it's right."

"Then it's obvious what you need to do, isn't it? You need to find the distaff and get it to Father so that he can secure it properly," Alex said. "I don't suppose there's any way to narrow down who might have the spinning wheel?" She glanced at Garvan, who immediately put up his hands.

"Don't look at me, my father has stonewalled me from having anything to do with the remnants of the order for years, and he's only gotten worse since I told him what profession I want to go into," Garvan protested. "I can't help."

"I agree with him there. No one who associates with the order would dare go anywhere near Garvan. They're afraid that Bagman will find out about it," Maurice said. Garvan grimaced at that. "But perhaps there is something we can do. Maybe I can convince Beth to try and find out if the Collection Society has heard anything about it."

"Good luck with that," Garvan said, but Alex grinned.

"You do that, and I'll concentrate on the splinter groups," Alex offered. Maurice nodded. "I also think Father needs to know that one of the artifacts may be in Equinox hands as well."

"I'm keeping him informed of all developments already," Maurice assured her.

"Then we'd best get to it," Alex said, getting up with a smile. "Good luck, Uncle Maurice!"

"Thanks, Alex," Maurice said. Garvan watched her go, shaking his head slightly as he turned back to his drink.

"It must be nice to have the Minister of Mysteries at one's beckon call."

"Well, I wouldn't go as far as saying that I do, but she does help out when it's something in her general expertise. Finding artifacts is one of her duties on a daily basis, so looking for one more won't hinder much," Maurice said. "Especially since she can easily write it off as a matter of security. Finish your drink and let's meet up with the others. Afterwards, I need to run to Toby's to see if I can find a spindle set before I meet Beth."

"Right," Garvan agreed, and the two of them left. As they went down the street and around the corner, Maurice noticed Severus standing outside of the dress shop with a book in his hand.

"I'll be right back," Maurice said and hurried over, staying only long enough to get Severus caught up before returning to his friends.

Severus listened to Maurice then watched him go with a frown, wondering not for the first time if he was doing the right thing. Maurice would have done it anyway, Severus reasoned, and he trusted Maurice well enough to know that he would come to him with anything he didn't think he could handle. He had just turned seventeen but had always been mature for his age, Severus reminded himself. Not to mention that he had half of the Ministry and all of the Snapes at his beckon call if he ever got into trouble. And what had the Owls done so far, really? All they were truly doing was following up on some of their member's Divination assignments, and that in turn showed them what to write their term papers in history on and inspired Maurice to take up a craft which would probably be an asset on his career path.

But now, the name of Equinox had resurfaced again... like a shadow that never seemed to go away completely. Back then Equinox had been well respected, their knowledge of artifacts and tomes would have been enough to persuade the shaky government in those turbulent times to place it in their hands. But hundreds of years had passed since that last report... would one of them still have it? Perhaps it was swallowed by time and circumstance? No, Severus sighed, knowing that was wishful thinking. As much as he would love nothing better than to ignore Ick's warning, something was going on.

He glanced down the street, watching as a goblin in Ravenclaw robes ran out of Corey's shop with a goblin in plain robes, hurrying down the street together. Would either of them have been wearing any sort of wizard robes sixty years ago? Thirty years ago? Even fifteen years ago? Or would they have been pushed out... exiled... perhaps even hunted down and killed for fraternizing with what some goblins still viewed as their enemy? Granted, there had been protests and negative responses... outcries and outrage, and a loss of Balderdash's position at the bank. But despite that, despite it all... it had been quite peaceful. Severus frowned in confusion. The idea of a revolt happening now made no sense whatsoever.

"Still out here, Severus?" Jennifer had taken his arm from behind him, gazing at his expression.

"Observing," Severus said. "And pondering what your brother and the Owls have gotten themselves into. Apparently Maurice talked Alex into digging into things for him."

"I doubt that took much persuasion," Jennifer chuckled.

"Well, apparently when the distaff was found in the hands of the goblins during the revolts it was returned to the school, while the spinning wheel that Rumpelstiltskin designed to work with it was given to someone in Equinox for safe keeping," Severus explained.

"The distaff is in the school?" Jennifer said with interest. "Hm, I wonder if it's too late to put a galleon on another date for the Chamber pool?"

"I'm less concerned about that and more concerned about what happened to the spinning wheel," Severus admitted.

"Well, if the spinning wheel was specifically designed to work with the distaff as you say it is, I don't see that it really matters where it is," Jennifer said. "It probably won't work without it, so all we have to do is find the distaff."

"Wait, there's no 'we' in this, Jennifer..."

"Or perhaps you should try organizing the ghosts or something..."

"Jennifer! 'We' are not getting involved in this in any way other than as advisors," Severus said firmly. "It is an Owl goal and a school-related matter, _not_ yours."

"You only did that to try to keep me out of it..."

"Yes," Severus said curtly.

"And you never, ever would have let students handle anything of this magnitude in the past."

"The Owls have been getting into school intrigues since the year it was formed, Jennifer, from the paintings to helping with the gargoyles and everything in between," Severus pointed out. "This isn't a group of students working on their own and breaking a million school rules to snoop about..."

"Only a good dozen..."

"And they are completely supervised between Boulderdash, myself, and even the paintings on occasion. Either way, it is school business and mine to decide when and where we interfere, not a family matter, despite the family status of some of the Owls. Is that quite clear?" Severus said.

"And if they decide to ask for family help, Severus?" Jennifer challenged him.

"Just how often do we allow parents to interfere in school instruction, Jennifer?"

Suddenly they heard someone clearing her throat. They both looked over to see Minerva standing in the doorway of the shop with her eyebrows raised. Several students stood behind her, wondering if it was safe to come out yet.

"Are you really having a professional discussion outside my shop? Aren't we getting a bit old for this sort of thing?" Minerva asked with a lip twitch. Severus pointed at Jennifer.

"She started it," he said with an even expression. Some of the students behind Minerva sniggered at that. Remembering they were there, Minerva stepped to the side to let them file out while still looking between Severus and Jennifer accusingly.

"Oh, did I?" Jennifer huffed. "Minerva, the Headmaster decided to give students permissions to search the castle for a missing artifact..." Jennifer said accusingly. Minerva blinked.

"They are simply researching it at this point, and she left out quite a bit of details in that, including that it was supervised..."

"I think it's grounds to have him put in for his annual physical, don't you?" Jennifer continued mischievously.

"Indeed. And perhaps a briefing so I'm not tempted to bring it up at the next board meeting," Minerva suggested.

"I'll send you an invitation for lunch this week," Severus said, squinting at Jennifer who looked triumphant.

"Good, then perhaps you'd best get back to shopping. You're scaring away my customers again," Minerva chided them.

"See you later, Minerva," Jennifer said cheerfully, walking down the street with Severus close behind.

"You do realize I plan to get even for that," Severus warned.

"You should save it until after lunch, Severus, because I have a feeling you'll want to get even with me for that as well," Jennifer said. Severus squinted. "We're having a family lunch, arranged by me... the head of the family as you'll recall... and you are going to cooperate." Severus stared at her enigmatic smile, realizing at once what was about to happen.

"I will get even," he warned again, but followed her inside the Three Broomsticks anyway.

Up on the balcony sat Andrew, Quintin, and Augustus, watching the crowd as well as Jennifer and Severus as they went up the stairs to join them.

"You see? I told you I would get him up here," Jennifer said triumphantly, receiving another dirty look from Severus. "Hello, everyone! I'm glad that you could make it, Uncle Augustus."

"Anna said something about seeing Quintin," Augustus explained. "I expected you to be working, Severus."

"I've been doing a fair bit of it, trust me," Severus said crisply, reluctantly sitting down.

"Too early for lunch!" Quintin complained.

"Well, you'll just have to make do. You know we don't have a normal routine on Hogsmeade days," Jennifer chided him. "Has he been a handful, Andrew?"

"No more than usual," Andrew said. "I've been telling Uncle Augustus how well Hadrian has been doing in Transfiguration this year."

"Yes, he does have a particular knack for it, although he does well in all of his classes," Severus agreed. "He has also been contributing a fair amount to his Owl goals this year."

"I invited him to come with me today, but he said he had too much to do," Augustus grunted. "A bit unlike him, really, he usually jumps at any chance to visit."

"He's definitely a hard worker," Jennifer agreed. "How is he adjusting at home?"

"Oh, he behaves all right... he's well mannered if a bit stiff around strangers, but he can be absent-minded when it comes to picking up after himself, especially when it comes to those dratted Wizards of MC cards. I've found them on every table, bed stand, and every other surface at one point or another and even under my foot a time or two, and yet every time I get my House Elf to put them away, Hadrian complains that they're 'out of order'"

"Sounds like typical child behavior to me," Severus said.

"I don't know, I'm not sure I like how preoccupied he is with that series. Have you read any of it?" Augustus asked.

"Just the first couple," Andrew said.

"Not I," Severus admitted.

"I haven't either, Uncle, but to be fair we hear quite a bit about it from the students on a daily basis," Jennifer chuckled.

"Well, I hope it doesn't give your students any ideas. You know the entire series is about young teen wizards and witches who secretly take over a wizarding school in an attempt to control the world?" Augustus asked.

"A rather suspiciously Hogwarts-like wizarding school, yes we know," Andrew chuckled.

"Our current Defense teacher also works with Wizardday publishing," Severus explained. "In fact, he has been using it as a motivational tool, although personally I find fear a better tool in those sorts of classes."

"You would. Who is your Defense instructor again?" he asked.

"Professor Aldus, this is his second..."

"Deacon Aldus? I don't trust him. You shouldn't either. He's Bagman's man," Augustus interrupted, gesturing for some drinks. "Not to mention he grew up a servant to a dark family. You did know that, did you?"

"Uncle, don't you think I would have gone through his background before I hired him?" Severus said with a sigh. "He's been nothing but a capable teacher despite his past, and he has also offered his items expertise on numerous occasions."

"Yes, he's been helping Maurice with his items project at the moment, Uncle," Jennifer said supportively. "Not to mention that he also gave us some advice on how to make these earrings to protect us from temporal shifts. It would have taken us ages longer to finish if it hadn't been for his help."

"All right, Jennifer, I'm sure you would know, but I suggest you keep an eye on him all the same," Augustus advised.

In fact, Jennifer could tell from his tone even without looking up that Severus was already starting to get quite agitated with his uncle's forward observations. Augustus was a lot like her father in that way, Jennifer realized, and Severus reacted quite understandably to it, considering their relationship. But unlike her father, Augustus was unlikely to follow through with any observations he had other than to point them out. Augustus had always gone out of his way to stay out of things, including during the Voldemort years, where he chose to leave rather than get caught up in what was going on. He had been a businessman, and now that he was retired had very little wish to get caught up in other people's business than he ever did, other than what was necessary to take care of Hadrian and himself. He was rather like Severus in nature, only Severus was never successful at staying out of anything, as much as he tried. Augustus had been much more successful at avoidance, and offering advice was his one and only way of getting involved in matters.

"I understand, Uncle Augustus, I will," Jennifer said with a warm smile. Severus darted her an annoyed glance, apparently disapproving of what appeared to be her attempt at humoring the old wizard.

"You also should make time to read those books," Augustus added.

"That's all we have to do," Severus said, annoyed.

"What Severus means is that this is our busiest time of year, what with wizard level tests coming up and all," Jennifer explained. "I expect I could easily find time in the summer."

"And what about that conference you were planning on going to?" Severus asked.

"That's only for a couple of weeks, Severus, and I'll be doing all my work for that before school ends," Jennifer said.

"Conference?" Augustus asked with interest.

"The European Wizard's Council is hosting a Healer's conference in Copenhagen and they've invited me to attend a round table discussion on dream research and therapy. I'm also participating in an open panel, which I'm not as enthusiastic about but it's part of the obligations, I suppose. If it'll further help perfect a technique to use dream therapy to help people recover from memory charms, I'm more than happy to go," Jennifer said.

"A rather fine honor to be asked. You've been working on a sleeping potion for dream therapy, I take it?" Augustus asked.

"And she's written several papers on it as well," Severus offered. "Although it was probably the follow up article she published last summer that reminded them she was still working on it."

"That was your doing, Severus. You know perfectly well that the only reason you pressed me to write a follow up on that potion formula was becuase you were trying to keep me busy while Andrew and Lucky were away," Jennifer said knowingly, moving her drink when a plate of meat rolls was set on the table.

"True enough," Severus admitted. "You have no idea how much time I spent trying to make sure her time was filled."

"It's just as well then," Augustus said, drinking his draft. "Two birds with one stone, since it kept you too busy to worry as well." Severus blinked.

"Spot on, Uncle Augustus," Andrew agreed in amusement.

"He has always been very emotional despite his quiet nature... even as a boy. He's been like that ever since he lost his mother," Augustus explained with a shrug.

"Are you quite finished?" Severus snapped.

"There, you see?" Augustus pointed out calmly.

"Now, Severus, I wouldn't mind hearing more about how you were as a boy," Jennifer said, wrapping an arm around his coaxingly. "After all, you know all about what I was like as a girl."

"How can I not know? Your inner child comes out often enough when you're upset or stressed," Severus replied.

"Apparently yours does too," Augustus pointed out.

"Ten points, Uncle," Andrew put in, looking amused.

"Can't you got back to being irritable and unsociable?" Severus snapped at Andrew. Andrew shrugged at him and smiled.

"It's so nice to be sitting here having a normal family conversation together," Jennifer beamed, helping Quintin get another meat roll.

"I was attempting to keep it professional, as you well know," Severus growled.

"I organized this as a family function, as is my right as head of the family," Jennifer said.

"You're head of the family?" Augustus asked, raising a brow.

"I have it in writing," Jennifer said, taking out the tardy slip.

"Only father signed that," Andrew pointed out. Jennifer thought about it and handed it to him. Smirking softly, Andrew signed it.

"You're going on my 'getting even' list too, you know," Severus warned Andrew.

"Shall I?" Augustus asked, and Andrew handed it over.

"Me too!" Quintin said.

"No, no, not until you can write more proper," Jennifer said.

"Can he write?" Augustus said with interest.

"He is still learning, but he read beginner books now, and he knows all his numbers. Actually, he learned numbers first... so that he could read clocks," Jennifer explained. "So if we ever come to visit, you had best make certain all of your clocks are accurate first." Severus stared blankly at her.

"Visit?" Severus repeated flatly.

"Of course, why not? Especially over the summer, I'm sure Hadrian especially would love the visitors," Jennifer said.

"Yes, I'm sure he must feel isolated at times," Augustus agreed.

"There, that's settled. And we'll make sure you know about other large family get togethers as well, such as Corey's birthday party and Yule, isn't that right, Severus?" Jennifer asked. Severus stared at her. "So that Hadrian will feel more a part of the family." Severus sighed.

"Yes, all right," Severus said in resignation, reaching for his drink grumpily.

"Splendid. Then I suggest we finish eating so everyone can get back to our shopping," Jennifer said cheerfully, reaching for her own plate and wondering why she hadn't tried taking over a long time ago.


	10. Devian Nyle

_A/N Happy Solstice, have some Equinox. I will also be doing typo-grammar fixes on books 20-22 over the next few weeks._

Chapter Ten

Devian Nyle

Beth exhaled, wondering how she got herself into this as she hovered on her broom over the Coventry estate, waiting for her father to leave the house for the day.

"Don't think of it as breaking into your own house," Maurice had told her at lunch that weekend. "Think of it as Devian Nyle, infiltrating her uncle's house to save the school from certain doom."

"Devian Nyle," Beth murmured to herself. "Great, I'm a full grown witch taking cues from a teen novel."

She saw movement and became alert, watching as her father walked out past the security barrier and Disapparating. Quickly she flew to the gate, putting it away and walking in. After all, it was her own home. It wasn't as if she wasn't allowed to go back in... but she also didn't want to have to answer any unpleasant questions either.

"Good Morning, Miss Elizabeth," said their butler when she walked through the entry hall. He was in the parlor, organizing the morning's Owl Post. "I'm afraid your father just left."

"Good morning, Mr. Tibalt. I just came to pick up some things. Do you know when the next Collection Society meeting is?"

"Thursday next, I believe, Miss Elizabeth. Were you planning to attend?" the butler asked curiously.

"Well, as long as my father doesn't start pressuring me for a change in relationships, I will. Considering the extent of my father's investments in collecting magical artifacts, I really ought to learn what it's going to take to manage it. I don't suppose he'd mind if I strolled about the display rooms?"

"I will show you in, Miss Elizabeth, but I do believe the House Elves are in there dusting today," Tibalt said.

"I don't mind," Beth said, the two of them walking back.

"I hope you aren't truly estranged from your father over your suitor, Miss Elizabeth. Parents are always concerned about such things, especially ones with influence," Tibalt said.

"It isn't as if I was scraping the gutter for one. The Craws may not have the money we do, but they're still in our social class... and they have greater influence than we do. I think I've done very well for myself, actually," Beth said, a little annoyed that she was still having this conversation even with her father not being at home.

"Yes, that's true," Tibalt admitted. Beth gazed at him thoughtfully, but he was busy with the five entry keys that led into the display rooms. "May I speak frankly, Miss Elizabeth?"

"Of course," Beth said.

"Your father was born into his wealth, social class, and influence, and he was taught how to handle it and maintain it, but not how to propagate it. But in recent years, that hasn't been enough; he finds his own influence dwindling while Malfoy, Craw, and Snape, who have all paid for their influence in blood, are the ones with all the power. He doesn't understand it. He sees the missteps and tragedies that they experienced fighting their way to the top as their inherent flaws and a representation of who they are, not something they had to overcome. They are their worst selves, and he simply doesn't understand why he... who hasn't done anything except maintain the family fortune... is losing so much ground against those who have behaved with less scruples on more than one occasion. He's followed every law, his worst sin is adultery and he well knows it, and he has showered his family with every advantage. Yet every day that passes his influence decreases, regardless of how much money he throws at things. But I believe you do understand it, Miss Elizabeth, else you wouldn't have pursued a Craw to begin with."

"What makes you think I pursued him instead of the other way around?" Beth said, feeling her temperature rise.

"You had more to gain by it, Miss Elizabeth, and you are both quite practical," Tibalt said.

"Yes, we are," Elizabeth said thoughtfully. "Usually, anyway. Thank you for letting me in."

"Of course, Miss Elizabeth. Just ring if you need anything else," Tibalt said and went towards the kitchen.

Exhaling, Elizabeth strode past the busts in the first hall, wondering whether to go right or left from there. She began searching the countless displays, despite the fact that she was quite sure it wasn't there. Something as powerful as the spinning wheel or distaff would have to be hidden; the current Ministry would be unlikely to allow her father to keep something like that, and all of the ones being showcased had all the proper paperwork filled out. Still, she knew that Maurice probably wouldn't be satisfied unless they ruled it out completely.

She walked through all the rooms and perused the display cases, stopping every now and then to read the plaque off the smaller items when she didn't know what it was. After a while, she felt like the quiet was getting to her as well as the sound of her own footsteps, wondering if she was being watched. She turned suddenly and looked at the display case at the end of the hall. Wasn't that dusty before? Now, it was freshly polished, and even the hint of lavender from a cleaning potion hung in the air. Oh, it was one of the House Elves, she realized with a chuckle. There was no reason to be nervous, it was technically her own house, after all, she told herself.

"Is there a House Elf in here?" Beth asked out loud.

"Yes, Mistress Elizabeth, Bartie is here," a girl House Elf's voice said. "Did Bartie disturb Miss Elizabeth?"

"No, I just wanting to ask something. Is dusting the collection wing your normal job?" Beth asked.

"Yes, Mistress, once a week," Bartie said.

"Do you happen to know if my father has collected any items that have anything to do with spinning wheels and that sort of thing?" Beth asked.

"There are some nice robes you might like to see on display in the Cloak Room, Mistress Elizabeth," Bartie suggested.

"I didn't mean finished garments, I meant more like spindles and wheels and distaffs and things like that," Beth explained.

"Master Abraxas doesn't collect tools, Mistress, only finished works," Bartie said solemnly.

"Of course. I should have known that," Beth sighed. "Thank you," she added before wandering towards the Cloak Room. Beth remembered from previous viewings that her father's interest in clothing in general had to do with more historic value than what charms were on them. Who had worn them was more important; and many of them were probably too recent for it to have anything to do with what Maurice was researching.

Beth began to concentrate on dates rather than names, and found herself standing in front of one of the last cases. After reading a couple of the plaques, she noted that the display featured garments from some of the members of the council when the ministry was formed. A flicker from the candles of the chandelier caused one of the gowns to sparkle momentarily, and Beth focused in on a dark purple robe in the center of the case that was embroidered with gold thread. Next to it, read the plate: Formal station gown of Edwina Wickes; Headmistress of Witanrow Reformatory, circa 1650. Beth studied it thoughtfully, attempting to remember if she had ever heard the name of that school before. She was no items expert, but she did know enough about witch garments to know that this one was enchanted, but with what sort of enchantment she wouldn't be able to tell without running checks, and she doubted she would be able to cast even identification spells through her father's security case. Still, it would probably be in written in one of his inventory books, Beth decided, standing up straight and turning with the intention of going to her father's study.

It was as she turned that she caught the glimpse of a dark stairwell in the adjacent room that was so out of place that she had to stop and turn around to stare at it. It was starkly different to all of the brightly lit white walls in the rest of the display area, and on top of that, she never remembered seeing it before. Her father had put in a secret passage? Why was it open now? That's right, the House Elves were cleaning in here, she remembered, hurrying over to the stairwell a bit afraid that they would finish before she reached it. But it remained open, and she found herself looking down a spiral staircase into a dimly lit room. She searched by the door and found an obvious lever to open the door from this side. Feeling reassured by that, Beth went down the stairs. After all, what was she doing other than exploring her own home, she reminded herself, and whatever he kept down here couldn't be as surprising as the first time that Maurice had shown her his father's "secret lab" and its surround sound television room. At the very least, Beth was quite certain it wasn't a telly, she thought with amusement, waving the lights up when she reached the bottom of the stairwell.

It was another collection of display rooms, but with much different lighting and tinted glass. Were these dark items, Beth wondered taking a breath. But that didn't make much sense, since her father was notorious for dotting every i and authenticating every signature. She went over to the case and noticed that the plaques were quite different. Instead of having a description of what they were, they had a family name, filing number, and a date. Heirloom items, she realized, and immediately went looking to see if any had the last name of Craw or Snape. But after a while, she realized that there were none, but many of the names were very familiar. They were business associates of her father's, or political acquaintances, and a few that she recognized from the society. There was also a lot more variety; candlesticks, bread boxes, letter openers, gloves, even a silverware set. With renewed interest, Beth began scouring the cases, looking for anything spinning related. But at the last case she sighed with frustration, having found nothing more than a thimble and pincushion through the entire collection.

As she began to walk back to the spiral staircase, she heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs and froze in her tracks. How long had she been down there? Maybe it was just Tibalt, she thought, quickly thinking up some excuse why she had come down there before starting to walk towards the stairs again.

"Elizabeth?" came her father's voice. Gasping, she stepped back and bumped into a display, setting off lights and noises and spells while she scrambled to get away from it.

Suddenly she found a bright light in her face and felt very disoriented. She closed her eyes tightly until she finally started to adjust to it, and realized in confusion that she was in the main collection rooms.

"Goodness, Elizabeth, are you all right?" Abraxas asked anxiously.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Oh, you set off the security system and triggered the Freeze Frame. Effective way to catch burglars without harming anyone, you know, and I'm so glad I went with that option now considering you might have been hurt," Abraxas said. "Whatever were you doing down there?"

"I have no idea really," Beth admitted. "Actually, I was wandering in the collection wing to see what items you had on display when I noticed the stairwell. I'd never seen it before and was curious to what was down there. What was all of that? It doesn't look like your normal collection at all."

"Um... no," Abraxas admitted. "They are heirloom items in my safekeeping, actually, and if it's all the same, I'd rather you not mention to anyone that room is there, including to your brothers."

"But aren't they illegal?"

"Now, don't be silly, Elizabeth, you know I wouldn't keep anything illegal," Abraxas protested.

"But they have other family names on them, and I thought the heirloom act only protected items when they stayed in the hands of their original families," Beth said.

"Normally yes, but there is an exception; when an item is of significant importance and value and the family whose heirloom it is feels that they do not have adequate security to protect them, they may sell it to a court-licensed third party with facilities approved to protect the item. The third party... such as myself, is not licensed to use them but only to retain them for security purposes, with the option of returning the item to the Ministry or selling them back to a member of the family whose item it is. Generally, by the time they are able to retrieve them, the item has appreciated in value; I hold various items for investment purposes, as well as to help out fellow members of the society who need a secure place for them," Abraxas explained. Beth couldn't help but think that her father had been quoting straight from a law book somewhere.

"I see. But why would they sell them to you instead of putting them in a vault at Gringotts?" Beth asked.

"Not everyone is comfortable with putting their heirlooms in Gringott's Bank, nor would all items be welcome there," Abraxas explained.

"Why? Were some of them made during the goblin rebellions?" Beth asked.

"Probably. There were so many heirloom magical items made over such a long period of time that it's hard for older items not to correspond with one revolt or another," Abraxas shrugged. "But I doubt that is the only reason they want to keep it out of Gringott's. Some wizards simply don't trust goblins. I do have to get approval for every item before I store it, and anything offensive enough to cause a political issue ends up getting rejected or confiscated by the Ministry. Fortunately that happens before any exchange of coin, so I don't have to worry about losing any money over it. Anyway, you aren't going to tell your brothers about it, are you?"

"No, I don't see any reason why I would want to tell them. It's not really their business what's down there anymore, is it?" Beth shrugged.

"Good girl. I'd rather the two of us be the only ones who know about that room. I wonder why it was open?" he pondered.

"Perhaps it was one of the House Elves. It's their dusting day," Beth said.

"Oh? Well, perhaps, but I doubt they'd need to open the door to get down there," Abraxas said, making Beth wonder about it as well. "Anyway, were there any items you wanted to see in particular? I don't remember you ever being interested in my collection before."

"Well, Maurice is taking classes to become an items specialist, after all," Beth reminded him, her father's expression turning to one of annoyance. "An excavation specialist, as a matter of fact, whose job it is to find these sorts of magical collectibles to auction off."

"Yes, classes," Abraxas repeated impatiently. "Even if we put aside the fact that he's a member of a family of murderers, which I can't, he's still a child. Like it or not, you are an adult. Besides, he's only a sixth year and I'm sure he's probably interested in a girl closer to his age by now."

"Father, even if I wasn't in constant contact with him, I'd trust him around any girl in that school. And since I'm not changing my mind about it, I'd sooner that we not argue about it anymore. I am simply here to learn more about your collection... especially some of the fashion you have on display," Beth said firmly.

"Fashion?" Abraxas asked with interest. "Any in particular?" Apparently, he didn't want to argue about it again any more than she did. Beth got her bearings and found the room with the headmistress's robes in it.

"I'd like to know more about this one, actually," Beth said pointing it out.

"Ah! Isn't it exquisite! I won it in at an estate auction... it wasn't well advertised, but a friend tipped me off," he explained proudly. "I'm also rather glad it wasn't well advertised; I wouldn't have been able to win this one otherwise."

"Is it that special? Where is this school that's mentioned? I've never heard of it," Beth asked.

"Oh, well it's the north wing of West of Whitehall now," Abraxas explained. "That wing was once a young witch's school, one of the first established after Hogwarts and who accepted girls of a much younger age. Originally it was St. Margret's Seminary for the Blessed Arts. It was renamed Witanrow Reformatory during the Cromwell years and then became Witanrow Preparatory in the eighteen hundreds until World War I, which is when it consolidated with the wizard's school Cavaliers Preparatory... now the south wing, of course. They fought over the name when they consolidated; neither side wanted to budge, so the Ministry stepped in and gave it its current name just to stop the fighting."

"I always wondered about the silly name," Beth said.

"Well, you must remember that most wizards were quite proud of the Ministry of Magic and their brand new government back then," Abraxas explained. "Of course, times have changed," he added dryly. "Anyway, the Headmistress position was only her formal occupation. She is much better known as being an advocate for the Statute of Secrecy. Her younger sister had her wand taken from her and was burned at the stake, so she often spoke out for change."

"Oh, I see," Beth said with genuine interest. "Is this robe in particular special?"

"Oh, my yes, she had it specifically made for her. It is woven with protections to keep one from being bound or held against one's will," Abraxas explained. "If they attempted to tie her, the ropes would simply fall off... bags would untie themselves, shackles fall off, and she could slip away from any grip. She was quite paranoid about Muggles catching her without a wand after her sister died... quite understandably so. She never went out of the school without this robe on." Beth studied it thoughtfully.

"I've never heard another robe that could do anything like that," Beth admitted. Abraxas brightened.

"Me either! That's why I'm so glad I was able to get it. If it had been better advertised, someone in that Whitehall crowd would have heard about it, and the price would have been quite daunting."

"Yes, I bet it would have," Beth agreed. "Well, thanks for showing it to me, Father. I should be getting back..."

"What, already?" Abraxas frowned.

"Fleur and I are going to have lunch in Marseille. If I'm late, she's likely to send Minister Craw after me," Beth warned.

"Fine! But if you want to learn about items collecting, you will have to talk to me, Elizabeth," Abraxas snapped.

"I'm not talking to you unless you stop trying to talk me out of seeing Maurice," Beth replied firmly.

"Then I will stop, but it's only because I know that this relationship isn't likely to last," Abraxas retorted.

"Time will tell," Beth said primly.

"Are you going to move back home, then?" Abraxas asked.

"No," Beth said in the same tone. Abraxas looked frustrated. "But I will come home to have dinner in a few days."

"Owl first, I've been quite busy," Abraxas said with annoyance.

"I shall, Father," Beth said, kissing the irate man on the cheek before hurrying towards the door, more than a little eager to get out of there.

Still, she couldn't help to be a little disappointed in herself. She was quite certain that Devian Nyle would have completed her mission without the uncomfortable confrontation with a relative at the end.


	11. Scientifically Speaking

Chapter Eleven

Scientifically Speaking

A few days later, Maurice was able to arrange for a quiet lunch at the Pannage so that Beth could give him her report.

"Upstairs there wasn't even anything remotely related to any sort of spinning equipment," Beth explained, testing the wine thoughtfully. "Although there were some lovely Headmistress robes from the same time period with an interesting charm on it. I have it written down," she added, giving him a small rolled parchment.

"What about any clothing items that were goblin related?" Maurice asked.

"No, nothing that really stood out," Beth said. "As for what he had downstairs, there were quite a lot of miscellaneous items down there, but none having to do with spinning and all properly registered. Father said that anything questionable was typically confiscated by the Ministry, and that included anything that would hurt goblin relations."

"Alex would have mentioned to me if anyone had ever tried to register the spinning wheel," Maurice said. "Of course, this only proves that your Father doesn't have it, not the society in general."

"True, but I really didn't want to give way what it was that I was looking for. Knowing my Father, he would have been likely to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and that by itself my have cause a political incident between us and the goblins," Beth said.

"Likely," Maurice agreed.

"Anyway, the meeting did lead to a temporary cease fire, and he is planning to teach me more about his collection," Beth explained with a sigh. "So if anything comes up you might find interesting, I'll send you another Owl."

"Oh? Is he finally giving in, then?" Maurice asked curiously.

"He's convinced that you're going to find another girl," Beth said. Maurice snorted.

"You know that's not going to happen," Maurice said.

"Yes, you're right," Beth answered with a mischievous smile. "Because if you did, Ambrose would tell on you." Maurice blinked at that.

"Are you two ganging up on me?" Maurice asked.

"Well, how else do you expect us to keep up with you?" Beth teased, pointing him towards his lunch before taking a bite of hers. "Speaking of which, how are things going with breaking that new girl into the Owls?"

"You don't want to know," Maurice answered, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

* * *

Viorica walked into the Owl Room with her microscope in her arms. Garvan and Maurice rolled their eyes, while the handful of others who were there seemed more curious.

"You actually brought a microscope to school?" asked Chris Parker.

"Oh, is that what that thing is," said Chuck.

"My parents gave it to me for Christmas," Viorica said proudly.

"Eddy, why did you bring that up here?" Maurice asked critically.

"My housemates kept sabotaging it. Librarian Boulderdash said I could keep it in here to protect it," Viorica explained.

"Slytherin don't sabotage other Slytherin," Garvan warned. "And if you do have a complaint about another house member, it should stay in the house rooms."

"It isn't as if I was mentioning any names," Viorica said, setting it on a desk in the back.

"I bet it was Maxen," Hope put in.

"Now, don't start that again, Hope," Maurice warned. "Eddy, why don't you just send that thing home? It'd be safer there, and you certainly don't need it at Hogwarts."

"Actually, I was running an experiment, looking at different hair, nail, and blood samples to see if there are any differences between magical humans and non-magical ones," Viorica explained.

"Blood samples! From where?" Chuck exclaimed.

"My own, of course, don't be so critical. I was only curious to see if there were differences. I haven't had any luck, if you're worried. I don't think my microscope is powerful enough," she brooded, getting a sandwich. "It must be a mutation or on a molecular level."

"Eddy, I know I'm going to regret asking, but what are you talking about?" Maurice asked with a sigh.

"I think she's looking for Metachlorians," Chris Parker said, shaking his head. "You're going about it the wrong way, Viorica. Magic and science don't mix any more than religion and science mix. You're not going to find any scientific proof for things like that, you have to use magic."

"But that defeats the point!" Viorica protested.

"Exactly, which is why you should probably drop it and just concentrate on your studies," Maurice said.

"You say that like I'm not at the top of my classes," Viorica said irritably. "But even if I am, nothing I've learned has explained just how it all works."

"You're going to make yourself balmy trying to figure all that out. You're better off just accepting it at face value instead of going on about it," Chris advised.

"I agree. It's a waste of time, Eddy," Garvan said.

"Professor Craw doesn't think it's a waste of time. In fact, she wants be to bring my microscope to open lab so that she can have a better look at it," Viorica said defensively. Maurice sighed.

"Then I won't bring it up again since my sister seems to be handling it. But in the mean time, you really ought to work on learning about functioning in wizard society a bit more," Maurice said.

"I did join the order, didn't I?" Viorica retorted. "Although I don't feel like I've had an opportunity to learn much when all I get any time I come in here is constant criticism."

"Maybe we should talk about something else?" Garvan suggested. "How is everyone doing in Defense? Anyone want any extra tutoring to try and win one of those books?"

"Me," both Chris and Chuck said at once.

"Not I," Viorica said. "I'm at the top of Defense as well, although I don't know what I'm going to do if I win it. It's not like I've read any of the other books, or even heard of it outside of that class."

"I'll lend you the first set so that you can start getting caught up," Maurice offered. Viorica blinked in surprise. So did Garvan.

"Really? I suppose I wouldn't mind reading it so I know what everyone is talking about," Viorica admitted.

"Good. Then afterwards, maybe we'll have something to talk about that won't revolve around criticizing you," Maurice said bluntly. Viorica glowered but didn't reply, concentrating on her lunch.

Later on that afternoon, Viorica brought her microscope into the lab, ignoring the dirty looks that some of the Items and Dabblers students were giving her for bringing it in.

"Ah, Viorica, there you are! I'm glad you could come," Jennifer said brightly. "I even cleared off my desk so you could show it to me. Do you suppose we could look at some potion samples with it?"

"Sure, if you like," Viorica said and set it up. "You don't seemed as baffled by it as some of the students I've talked to."

"I used to correspond with a doctor who spoke about them, and I've read about them in books. Sherlock Holmes was supposed to have had a microscope," Jennifer said, impatiently peering in with a frown. "I don't see anything, though."

"Give me a bit to adjust it and put a slide in," Viorica protested. Jennifer watched her for a moment then checked on some of the other students before wandering back over again.

"What do you have in there right now?" Jennifer asked.

"Oh... just a blade of feistyweed. I wanted to see what made them move," Viorica admitted.

"I definitely want to see that," Jennifer said enthusiastically. After adjusting it some more, Viorica stepped aside and watched as Jennifer looked through at what Viorica thought of as plain, unremarkable plant cells. "It looks rather like lizard skin, doesn't it? What's next?" Dutifully Viorica prepared some of the solutions onto slides, but as she adjusted them she saw with frustration that she was having the same problem as before... everything looked rather ordinary. It was like examining an herbal solution, a lotion...and on one slide, a drop of tea. Why couldn't she figure out where the magic portion of the potions were hiding? "Thank you, Viorica! It was quite fascinating. Now what can I show you?" Jennifer pondered, getting in her desk. Viorica looked at her curiously. "You don't really learn about testing potency other than sight and smell until next year, but I can show you one way to test magic potions now," she said, pulling out a small box of thin, tightly rolled paper sticks. "This is one of the prepared testers I use. They turn different colors depending on what the base of the potion is. It can tell you what the main ingredient is and give you some idea of how potent it is. Outside of school, they are mainly used to make sure when Dabbling with formulas that you don't accidentally mix ingredients together that would cause a nasty reaction that would cause a toxic gas or blow up the lab or some other undesired result."

"Oh! So they're rather like PH test strips," Viorica said with interest.

"What are those?" Jennifer asked.

"They tell how how acidic or alkaline something is," Viorica explained.

"Oh, yes! These can do that as well, actually... you'll find there's a booklet in the lid of the strips that will explain what the colors mean... both glowing and not glowing... but I advise that when you play with them that you only use things that would be approved for handling in your room... like cosmetics, sun potions, hand lotions, basic balms and magical soaps, that sort of thing," Jennifer said.

"But that will only tell me how things work with a magical tool," Viorica said with a sigh. "It still doesn't show me evidence of magic in the scientific world."

"I suppose that's because there isn't, and it's a rather good thing that it doesn't, if you ask me," Jennifer said, Viorica frowning at her in response. "Viorica, I know you've only been a student here for a short time, but surely Professor Scribe has covered some of the basics of why our society is mostly hidden from the non-magic world."

"Yes," Viorica acknowledged.

"Then you also should realize that it's a very good thing that it doesn't show up using science methods, or it never would have been possible to hide. They would have had us all under one of those microscopes by now," Jennifer said with a roll of the eyes, walking over to check on the others again. Viorica frowned at that, putting the testers in her bag.

As she got back to the Owl Room to put away her microscope, it was fairly empty. Maurice was there, consulting with Diana over star charts.

"There she is," Maurice said. Diana gazed at her speculatively with the same stony expression that she always wore. "Viorica, since you have to take beginning astrology this year, I'm going to put you on Halle's team. They are studying the references to revolts and spinning wheels for our main Owl goal."

"To find out what's so important about the distaff that might be somewhere in the castle?" Viorica asked.

"Right. Diana will help you with specifics on what to research and also tutor you in areas when needed since they're both in more advanced astrology classes," Maurice said.

"I'll do my best, although I'm not sure I really see the point in Astrology," Viorica admitted.

"Well, if it's any consolation, a lot of people feel that way about it, Viorica. Even my brother felt that way for a long time, but in recent years he's changed his mind about it," Maurice said.

"I don't see why he would. For example... do you see this big red star in Orion?" Viorica said, pointing it out.

"Yes, it's Betelgeuse," Maurice said calmly.

"It's expected to go supernova. In fact, it may be a supernova already. But if it exploded yesterday, we wouldn't know about it for another six hundred years. Wouldn't that mean that anything predicted in that house would be totally useless for at least that long?" Viorica argued. Maurice sighed.

"Viorica, haven't we already told you that science and magic don't work well in the same context?" Maurice said.

"Yes, it's been mentioned to me a lot, even as early as half an hour ago," Viorica admitted, putting down her microscope and sitting down, getting out the strip tester key to look at.

"This is simply another example. Don't think of it as stars at varied distances that have nothing in common except they are aligned a certain way from our perspective. Rather, concentrate on the fact that it is the perspective itself that is important. When we look into the night sky, it's time that we see... we are looking back thousands of years in some cases, and with telescopes we can see back millions of years," Maurice said.

"Even billions," Viorica interrupted.

"So looking up at the sky gives us a perspective of time and the past like no other source. Even in science, can't you predict the future by looking at what has happened in the past? You predict that Betelgeuse is going to supernova because scientists have collected all this data from other stars at other times to see what's going to happen to it, right?" Maurice pointed out.

"Yes, I suppose, in a way," Viorica shrugged.

"Astrology is just the same sort of idea, really, tracking important events by past alignments and using it to look ahead. You'll find perspective in and of itself is quite important in magic. Isn't that right, Diana?" Maurice said. Diana nodded.

"I understand the confusion. I can help her," Diana decided expressionlessly.

"Great, then we're set. I also have the first three books of the Meglomaniacs Club for you, Viorica," Maurice said, sliding them over.

"I still need book seven," Diana added.

"I'll get it to you at breakfast, Diana," Maurice said. Diana nodded at that. "I won't be here at lunchtime; I'm having lunch in the Headmaster's Study. Now that I'm done with my initial research, I think it's time I got some ideas from my brother about where the Distaff may be hidden."


	12. Keeping Busy

Chapter Twelve

Keeping Busy

Jennifer blew her hair out of her face, staring out the window with a frown when a gentle snow in the evening sky threaten to erase some of the progress from the snow melting during the day. She grabbed her books and stacks of paper, holding a thick scroll in her offhand as she toted all of it into the Headmaster's Study where Severus was still busy at his desk.

"I don't suppose you're ever coming in?" Jennifer asked, glancing in the nursery to see that Quintin was sound asleep.

"You know perfectly well I have a board meeting tomorrow, I have little choice but to work late. I'm sure you have plenty to do yourself," Severus pointed out and Jennifer dropped her papers on his desk.

"Yes, and I still think it was quite cold of you to deny my request not to organize OWLS this year. You know perfectly well I have research to do before I attend conference," Jennifer complained.

"Jennifer, Hermione has often spoken at international conferences for education and still managed to keep up with test preparation when it was her year to do so," Severus pointed out.

"Yes, but she's a bit more organized than I am..."  
"A bit?" Severus interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't see why I have to be penalized because she has a talent for it. The truth of the matter is you decided that you wanted me to keep busy this year," Jennifer accused him. "I have enough on my plate to keep me busy without this, thank you."

"Most of which is your own doing; from easing Aurelius into taking over Rus' training to helping Danyelle with Eddy, setting aside more time with Hadrian and Llewellyn, and conspiring to force me to dine with my uncle next week..."

"Hardly fair, Severus, it was long overdue, and I'm not interfering in any family matters unless they need to be interfered with," Jennifer argued. "Besides, this was a professional conversation about workload, not my duties as head of the family. This is about you not wanting me to get involved with the Owl's search for that distaff, despite the fact that I am the items specialist in this castle..."

"As is Deacon..."

"I am also the Items professor, _not_ Deacon," Jennifer argued.

"Jennifer, I'm sure that once the Owls have found the distaff I will be consulting both of you on the matter. But until then, I have matters well in hand," Severus said.

"I seriously doubt that the distaff is being kept somewhere that students could find it, Severus," Jennifer said.

"I'm well aware of it, but I have others assisting," Severus assured her. "Others that aren't quite so busy as you are. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be working on that?"

"Fine, but I will get even..."

"When you're not busy," Severus finished, pouring them some tea before getting back to work.

* * *

It had been raining in other parts of the country for nearly a month before the snow finally began to clear. After a week of cold but sunny days, the rain finally came, adding to the already swollen lake and forcing Professor Craw to close up all but the top windows in the potion lab.

Halle's team did their best to take advantage of that string of clear nights, grateful that the moon was nearly new when it had begun. And by the order meeting on Saturday, they had assembled a working report.

"The predictions coming out of Divination and Astrology are still quite consistent with our first observations over the holidays," Halle told them. "If anything, the omens have become even more persistent when it comes to what the top students are getting in Divination, and both Ravenclaw and Sagittari have confirmed our findings so far."

"Not really surprising, considering all we've been doing up to this point is research," Maurice said.

"I have some research to report," Hadrian put in as if waiting for the opportunity. "It's about that robe you asked me to look up."

"Headmistress Wickes' escape robes?" Maurice said. Hadrian nodded.

"Actually, I couldn't find anything at first, but Professor Weasley wrote down some of her ideas and Boulderdash helped me track them down. One of the books was actually a reference book kept back here on unique magical items," Hadrian explained, pulling it out and opening it. "I found the last line especially interesting."

"Let me see," Maurice said, and Hadrian showed him the entry. Maurice read down a bit and became surprised and had to read it a second time. "Maybe Beth was onto something after all."

"What do you mean?" Hope asked impatiently.

"'The Wickes Robe, sometimes called the Robe of Denial. While this unique robe was made from charmed readily available at the time, it is embroidered with stars made out of a charmed gold thread which gave the robes its unique properties. No other robes have been made in similar fashion due to the fact that this thread could not be duplicated,'" Maurice read, looking up. "That means there is a possibility that robe was made with thread that came from the distaff."

"Maybe a possibility, but hardly a sure thing," Hope argued. "It could also very well be a coincidence."

"True. I guess that means we also need to research the time period and find out if there were any other charmed gold threads being made at that time which were like it." Maurice aid.

"That sounds like an awful lot of work considering that some of us are going to be studying for tests soon," Hope warned.

"Then someone who doesn't have tests this year will have to do it," Maurice said.

"Leu, Keir and I can do it," Noah volunteered.

"Wait, wait, before we get stuck with this, why don't you just ask Professor Aldus about it, Maurice? Maybe he would know," Keir suggested.

"Just because he knows a lot about textiles doesn't mean he's an expert on history," Maurice pointed out. "I will ask to find out if he knows anything, but unless he can say positively for sure if it is or isn't, it's not going to help us."

"Fine, but we'll wait until after you're done talking to him before we start anything," Keir said.

"In the meantime, we do need to start trying to find out where that distaff is. I spoke with my brother and he has arranged for us to have some faculty and security help; namely, Mr. Carnegie and the paintings will be helping us look when they can and help make suggestions as to where it may be. Mr. Carnegie is going to ask the House Elves to keep an eye out, but considering they didn't now where it was right away, it is probably somewhere that none of them maintain."

"In that case, maybe we ought to be checking the Chamber of Secrets," Hope suggested.

"I already mentioned that, but the Headmaster has all sorts of powerful wards down there now blocking every passage and entrance past the Door Lift, and he won't agree to lift any of them unless we have some sort of evidence that it might be down there," Maurice explained.

"What about lack of evidence? Like when we've exhausted everything else?" Hope asked.

"Then, I'm sure he'd go down there with us and look, but considering we are just getting started, we have a while before we need to deal with that. House representatives should organize searches in their wings with fellow Owl members in their house... after those are cleared we'll work on a chart to divide up the rest of the castle... Andrew is going to help us with that part, because he has a model of the castle and can provide extra information on secret passageways that we might have to explore. If you were here when we were looking for the waylaid statues a couple of years ago, expect a similar strategy, although we'll be looking at areas in more detail, considering what we're looking for is smaller.

"This is going to take weeks," Diana said evenly.

"Or even months," Paula agreed with her. "And with the end of the year cram coming up, I'm not sure we have a chance of finding it before summer."

"I'll get some of the ghosts to help," Noah offered.

"Good idea," Maurice said with a nod. "In the meantime, continue your research projects and homework, and let's give it a go. Diana, you Hufflepuffs really need to be especially careful when going over your rooms, since Holda was the original owner."

"If it is there, we will find it," Diana said simply.

Leu called adjourn the meeting, and they turned their attention to lunch and homework.

* * *

Maurice checked his progress one last time before putting it in his box and taking it downstairs for his conference lunch with Professor Aldus, who seemed to be going through a lot of post, including several thick scrolls that Maurice was sure would need particularly hefty Owls to carry them back and forth.

"Ah, Mr. Craw. Ready for another check, I see," Aldus said, turning over his stationary.

"Are those from Wizardday?" Maurice asked.

"I'm not going to give you hints any more than I'm willing to give anyone else hints, so you may as well not even go there," Aldus chuckled at him, inspecting the spool that Maurice had produced. "Yes, much better! Well done, you must have dedicated a great deal of time to that."

"I have," Maurice agreed.

"Yes, yes, very good. You are ready to take on some blending, I think, and with that you can begin to add in some charmed wool fibers," Aldus said. "By adding various amounts of charmed wool and natural wools, you'll be able to achieve the desired effect needed to finish your project and help Cain with his. I know just the breed to use with waterproofing... I'll write it down for you," Aldus offered, getting out some note paper. Maurice frowned.

"So I know everything I need to for my Items project?" he asked.

"Yes, indeed, although you'll need a bit more skill with blending, I'm sure you will be able to make a suitable enough cording thread to handle fabrics used in survival gear," Aldus said, handing with the slip. "Just try out several different blends and test them to find which one works best for your project."

"Alright. Thank you, Professor," Maurice said. "Might I ask you about something else while I'm here?"

"Defense related?" Aldus inquired.

"No, still spinning related," Maurice admitted. "Have you ever heard of Wickes Robe?"

"Ah, yes, I know it well. Mr. Coventry owns it now. I helped him with the appraisal when he was filling out the paperwork for it," Aldus said.

"Really?" Maurice said in surprise. "You see, Beth was telling me about it and mentioned that the robe had special gold embroidery and we wondered if the thread itself was what made it unique."

"It will always be unique in its history, Mr. Craw, and there are many reasons why no one would ever bother making another, including improvements to Portkeys and more stable Apparating techniques," Aldus said. "Miss Coventry does seem to have a keen eye, however; the charms for that robe did come from the gold thread, and it's true that it cannot be duplicated."

"Does that mean it's possible that it was made with Rumpelstiltskin's spinning wheel?" Maurice asked.

"Ah," Aldus said with a thin smile of surprise and a glint in his eyes. "Yes, I can say that some suspect that."

"Suspect it?"

"Yes, well, one cannot confirm it when one doesn't have anything to compare," Aldus shrugged.

"That's true. Not since..." Maurice stopped what he was going to say, suddenly uncomfortable about mentioning what had happened to the Avian Cloak. After all, that was family business. "Thank you, Professor. I should be going."

"Good luck with your project," Aldus agreed, waiting until Maurice left before turning his stationary back over again.

Maurice was not looking forward to working on his own since he was quite sure that he was still very much a beginner.

"Does it really matter?" Cain asked when he mentioned it in their house rooms that night. "Even if we do manage to find the Distaff and the wheel, it's not like we're going to try to use it for any reason. We're just trying to stop anyone from getting a hold of it that shouldn't have control over it."

"He's got a point, Maurice," Garvan said from where he lay with his hands behind his head, looking at the ceiling. "We just need to get it back to the Headmaster, who will more than likely put it somewhere it'll never be found again. There won't be an opportunity to use it," Garvan said.

"Yes, but understanding how it works may give us a clue to where it is," Maurice argued, then paused thoughtfully. "Wait, what did you say?"

"That no one will be able to use it, Garvan said.

"No, not that," Maurice said, thinking on it a moment. "We're going about this the wrong way. We need to learn more about the Headmaster who was in charge of Hogwarts when the Distaff was returned. I mean, considering how it had been used when it left the school's protection, he would have had even more reason than Severus to want that Distaff put somewhere that it'd never be found again."

"True, if he was an honest Headmaster, I'd say so. They weren't all like that," Cain said.

"No, not by a long shot, which is why we need to head back to the library in the morning," Maurice said. Garvan groaned. "Do you disagree with me?"

"No, you're right. But I'm going to pretend that you aren't until morning," Garvan said, putting a pillow over his head.


	13. Thinking Like a Headmaster

Chapter Thirteen

Thinking Like a Headmaster

Maurice dutifully started sorting through the returned books, but kept looking up until Ambrose reappeared again with a book.

"Found it," Ambrose said, opening up a copy of _Hogwarts, A History._

"It wasn't in your version?" Maurice asked.

"No, I didn't really know enough about this time period to add any corrections. I was concentrating on the founding years and the most recent," Ambrose explained, "although now that I'm looking at it, this time period is rather interesting as well."

"So who was the Headmaster?" Maurice asked.

"A wizard named Everard Rapp, who apparently served both in the original Wizard's Council and also seems to have been instrumental in setting up the Ministry of Magic. It seems he was rather well-respected at the time, and was appointed to the position by the Ministry... all of the ones in the time period were, really, the school's governors board was formed later," Ambrose explained. "He was also a member of the Order of Merlin."

"Really? Then he wasn't likely to have helped Equinox by taking the distaff off property, would he?" Maurice said.

"Considering that the deep rivalry between the two orders started centuries before his, I rather doubt it, although we can't rule it out completely, I suppose," Ambrose said.

"Well, what else do we know about him?" Maurice asked.

"That's all in this book, but I'll look around when I'm off duty to see if there's anything more," Ambrose said.

"If he was involved with the Ministry, I can also find out what they know about him as well," Maurice said thoughtfully.

"I'd try the Headmaster's Study first, if I were you," Ambrose suggested. Maurice nodded at that.

"Right," Maurice agreed. "I can look into it when I give my weekly update tomorrow at lunch."

* * *

The moment Maurice stepped into the Headmaster's Study, his eyes were on the walls and looking at each painting carefully. He was still craning his neck up and staring at them when Severus walked in from the back room, still in his teaching robes.

"Sorry, I had to keep a runes student over for messy homework again. What are you looking at? Is one of them awake that shouldn't be?" Severus asked, squinting at them.

"I'm looking for one in particular, actually. Which one is Everard Rapp?" Maurice asked.

"Over here, top level, with the dark hair and bangs," Severus said, setting up the tray.

"Oh, nearer the desk?" Maurice said curiously, stopping near Dumbledore's painting and following Albus' finger to the portrait he was pointing to. The wizard in the portrait still looked quite sleepy and bored, despite the fact there were plenty of books nearby to occupy him. "Is he a part of security, then?"

"There's a painting of him in the Ministry so he's tied to security," Severus explained. "But your father prefers to Flame, and Alex gave me a Ministry Shell long before the paintings started working again, so I have had no reason to call on it or bother Draco directly for any reason. Why do you ask?"

"Ambrose says he was the Headmaster at the time the Distaff was probably returned to the school," Maurice explained. "So I was wondering if he was the sort of person who would have wanted to hide the Distaff where nobody could find it, or if he might have passed down where it was to someone else, or noted it in a personal journal or something." Severus frowned at the painting thoughtfully.

"From what little I know of him, he was the sort of Headmaster who would have wanted it well hidden, especially considering the politics of the time... Everard?" Severus called out. Everard's eyes popped wide open in surprise and he flailed about, dropping a book and nearly knocking over a crystal ball stand that had been positioned near his chair.

"At your service, Headmaster," he answered, quickly settling the stand.

"What do you know about the Distaff of Discord? Do you recall if your real self ever had cause to handle it?" Severus asked.

"I believe so, Headmaster Snape. It was missing for some time but it was returned to the school," Everard explained.

"Do you recall where he hid it?" Severus asked.

"No, Headmaster. The event in question happened well after I was painted. I only know that it was returned to the school," Everard said.

"Have any of the Owls consulted any paintings to ask if any of them recall that staff being hidden?" Severus asked Maurice.

"I'm not entirely sure," Maurice admitted.

"Feel free to ask my portrait for assistance, and point him to me if he questions it," Severus said.

"All right," Maurice said with a shrug. "But if paintings were already an integral part of security back when he was Headmaster, I think he'd know better to hide something where there were paintings present."

"That would depend on whether he was acting on impulse when he hid it or whether he prepared ahead and left clues for the next person who took over," Severus said.

"I believe I can answer that question for you, Headmaster," came a woman's voice from another painting. "He left no clues for me, nor do I think he would have done so, considering the mess he had to clean up after taking over after Vindictus. Headmaster Vindictus was quite self-serving, and I dare say that he only took over the position to further his own pursuits in alchemy."

"Who is that talking?" Maurice asked curiously.

"Headmistress Derwent," Severus explained. "She was appointed after Everard."

"I took over at his request, Headmaster Snape. For no other reason would I have left St. Mungo's other than his appeal to me," Dilys Derwent said.

"Why did he leave?" Severus asked.

"I'm not certain," Derwent admitted. "But I believe it was political in nature."

"That could mean anything." Severus scowled in annoyance.

"Where is the portrait of the other Headmaster she mentioned?" Maurice asked.

"Out in the main stairwell, Professor Viridian," Severus said. "Dusthorn once told me that he is out there because he doesn't get along with the other Headmaster portraits and wasn't a 'team player'. Also I've had had a fair number of complaints thrown at me about him from both students and staff, although really I don't know what the fuss is over. He is simply a bit of a disciplinarian is all."

"A bit?" Derwent repeated, staring at him critically.

"Thank you, Dilys," Severus said, turning his attention back to Maurice. "I assume you're planning to have your team research Headmaster Rapp to find out more about him?"

"Yes, but I also thought I'd ask you about it, being a Headmaster yourself. Where would you hide an item like that?" Maurice asked. Severus squinted at him.

"While I won't divulge which methods I use personally, I will tell you what methods Headmasters have used successfully in the past," Severus said. "Headmaster Dumbledore believed that the best way to hide something was in plain sight; obvious locations tend to be overlooked simply because they're too obvious, so those looking for a hidden item may only give them a cursory glance. Similarly, many Headmasters choose to hide items within areas of the castle where students frequent the most, for there it is less expected, and any abnormalities that exist in those locations are quickly discounted because they have 'always' been like that. Students are only here for seven years and faculty change regularly, so it doesn't take more than a decade or before something is accepted as a castle quirk, especially in a castle that has been around for centuries."

"Like how the chamber had been hidden with a broken sink?" Maurice said.

"Yes, that sort of thing, although I believe there also had been a charm on the sink so that people would forget it was broken once they left the room, thus keeping anyone using that bathroom from notifying the staff that it needed to be repaired," Severus said. Maurice nodded thoughtfully at that. "Another way is by disguising the item, whether through incorporating it into another item, by transfiguration when it is a device capable of that, or by conventional non-magical methods. Even then, it tends to be more effective if that is done somewhere that is often frequented by students."

"I'll admit I don't understand why it's important if that's the method," Maurice said.

"Because, Maurice, if there is one thing I have learned from all my years of teaching in this school, is that the worst place to hide an item is in a hidden, restricted area with a multitude of traps, puzzles, and secret keys," Severus said dryly. "The more dangerous the traps, the more likely that some cocky student will decide it is there simply for them to test it."

"You mean like Harry?" Maurice asked knowingly.

"He was far from the only one, I assure you," Severus said, slightly annoyed. "Although I admit after going so far out of our way to make certain that no one could get to it, I found that particular incident extremely irritating."

"Yes, but Professor Dumbledore set that up, didn't he?" Maurice asked.

"We all had a hand in its design, Maurice, but yes, he initially set it up," Severus admitted.

"In that case, it was probably done intentionally, then," Maurice said. Severus frowned at him. "You just got down telling me that Professor Dumbledore preferred to hide things in plain sight, and yet he went out of his way to set up all these elaborate traps and hide the Stone in a restricted area. It sounds to me as if he set all that up to give Harry a reason to go looking for it." Severus' jaw dropped. Then he looked over at Dumbledore's portrait, who gave him a thin, enigmatic smile in return.

"Armando, the next time Albus crosses back over here, remind me that I need to talk to him and why, because I have every intention of talking to him about it, no matter _how_ long he's gone this time," Severus snapped viciously.

Maurice laughed softly to himself.

"Yes, Headmaster," Dippet answered cordially.

"Do you suppose that all the past headmasters would have learned the same lesson?" Maurice asked.  
"Not every Headmaster started as a professor, after all. Didn't you say he worked at the Ministry? If the Ministry of Magic is run anything like it is today, he may have gone out of his way to hide it in some hidden, inconvenient location with obstacles to discourage intruders. Sort of like Salazar Slytherin did." Severus groaned at that. "After all, he might have stumbled on it at some point and simply kept it to himself. And if it's possible, it needs to be eliminated, right?" Severus checked the date on his calendar. Then he flipped it forward a few days.

"Fine, I'll concur it needs to be eliminated... to keep you Owls from poking around down there, if for no other reason. I'll arrange something and inform you when I have it set up," Severus said. "In the meantime, you have enough to do checking with the paintings."

"Might I check with Janus as well?" Maurice said.

"Does it matter if I give you permission in that case? I know perfectly well that he would help you whether I approved of him helping or not," Severus said. "I trust you enough to tell me when you are considering exploring places or activities that you know perfectly well you shouldn't be doing on your own, just as you have done now."

"Thank you, Severus," Maurice said, then turned his attention to the sandwich tray.


	14. The Chamber Maid

Chapter Fourteen

The Chamber Maid

On a very soggy Saturday just after Jennifer and Quintin had left to head home for Rus' training, Severus cast a quick spell on the Doorlift and stepped through to the vaulted double doors in front of the Chamber of Secrets. Dispelling the ward, he double-checked his Chest Cloak until Madame Brittle stepped through the Lift with Maurice, Garvan, Harvey, and Keir.

"So, here we are," Madame Brittle said with a thin smile. "Been a long time."

"As I recall, you nearly died the last time," the Headmaster pointed out. Harold and Keir frowned at that, glancing at each other.

"Corey almost died. I was just sucked in by a memory bound room," Brittle reminded him. "How many times have you almost died in there?"

"Several, and in each instance it was because of students I was attempting to rescue putting me in that position," Severus replied.

"Okay, okay, we get it already," Keir said in annoyance. "Stay alert, follow instructions, and don't touch anything or we all die."

"I think they got the hint," Brittle confided in the Headmaster.

"Good," Professor Snape said, then hissed at the doors, waiting as they slowly opened before leading them into the main chamber. While the Slytherin Owls were still gawking at the statues, Danyelle Brittle, for her part, was admiring the impressive amount of magical wards and glyphs covering all the traps, pipes and passageways.

"When you said you had this thing babyproofed, you weren't kidding, were you?" Brittle said in awe.

"Baby proofing on top of student proofing, yes. Even so, there were still a couple of incidents where Quintin triggered his protection device and I had to come down here to ward a couple of traps I hadn't been aware of," Snape admitted. "Not all of the traps are completely magical in nature. Some of them have been mechanical... more than likely put there for the very fact that a magical detection spell wouldn't pick them up. Hopefully I have them all now, but I can hardly guarantee it."

"But if you've been through here that thoroughly, it's not very likely that the distaff is down here at all then, is it?" Harvey said.

"In here, no, but there are other hidden rooms and passages that are connected to this room. For example, one of them was Salazar's personal chamber. But that particular room has been permanently sealed. It has been gone through in its entirety now and all of the contents have been removed. Another passage leads into a maze, which I have been assured by two of its original creators that it has no ties to our current quest. However, there is one area down here that has never been thoroughly searched: the lower cistern where the Ancient Basilisk nested at. Follow me," the Headmaster said.

"Ancient Basilisk?" Keir repeated, not liking the sound of that.

"Don't worry. Harry Potter killed the thing way before we were born," Maurice assured him.

"Yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean that nothing else is alive down there, considering there are overflow pipes leading into a cistern which is empty most of the time," Severus said, walking over to a grated circular hole about the size of the manhole. On the wall just above it was a tied-up rope ladder, which released the moment that Severus opened the grate. "There's a twist in the middle of this pipe, so be careful on the ladder. I suggest you put a gripping spell on your hands so that you don't lose purchase."

"I can go next," Maurice volunteered, following behind Severus. Shrugging, Garvan followed behind him, then Keir, and then Harvey, who was more than a bit afraid of getting stuck at the bend. However, the pipe was actually much bigger than it had appeared, and the students soon found themselves climbing out the pipe and continuing down into a large, damp, and ominously dark chamber.

"Hey!" Brittle called out cheerfully as she brought up the rear. "I've always wondered what this cistern looked like! Where are all the bones?"

"Further down," Severus replied as he held the ladder at the bottom, helping the boys step off onto the pile. "Let's comb the nest area first. Maurice, Garvan, team up with one of the other two since they may not have learned all the necessary detection spells yet."

"Right. Keir, with me," Maurice said. "What is our safe boundary?"

"To that second pipe will do. Don't go near the water."

"Who'd want to?" Keir said, scrunching his nose.

"Madame Brittle, I don't suppose you brought you broom?" Severus asked.

"What? Bring my broom when we're going on a cavern raking expedition?" Brittle replied, aghast. The Headmaster gazed at her expectantly. "Okay, I brought it," she admitted sheepishly.

"Then hover and check for creatures, magical and otherwise, please," Severus said.

"Yeah, good plan," she agreed.

"Just what did we get ourselves into?" Harvey wanted to know, chucking some bones out of his way.

"It's important to eliminate any possibilities," Garvan reminded him. "Remember what Professor Frumpet always says. 'When you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever remains must be true.'"

"That is a Sherlock Holmes reference, I'll have you know," Snape said in such a tone that Maurice smirked as he pointed his wand at another refuse pile. "Is there anything original at all in that silly book series? Less talking, more casting. I'd rather this not take all day."

"There doesn't seem to be anything larger than rats and snakes down here, Professor," Brittle reported.

"Rats?" Keir repeated.

"Snakes?" Harvey echoed.

"Easily handled," Garvan sighed at them, tossing a doorknob over his shoulder. "Really, we should have brought Natalie and Leu instead."

"Bringing all Slytherin is much safer, just in case there are any lingering traps or curses," Maurice explained, still checking the area in front of him. "So far, I'm not really finding anything though."

"I'll check the water," Brittle volunteered, hovering over and calling up some light over the darkest part of the cistern. "What, hullo? What's this?" Severus looked up curiously as she drifted over the water towards the far end of the channel. "This outtake pipe is huge. It has bars across it and is magically sealed... it doesn't look like your work."

"No, I've never explored that part of the cavern, but I know why it is that size," Severus said, coming to the water's edge. "The original plans included a tentative boat dock under the castle."  
"Really? This deep?" Danyelle said with interest.

"It was a way to get heavy materials brought in during construction... including all of these enormous pipes," Severus explained.

"Ah. Good point," Danyelle said, looking at it thoughtfully. "Considering the workmanship I'd say they were planning to use this area longer term but then decided not to for some reason."

"I have a feeling that Salazar had a hand in that, considering where the chamber is. Hang on a moment, I had better deal with that seal myself. The four of you stay here and keep looking in case there is something we've missed," Severus said, pointing at a large pile of bones and levitating them out to the water. He transfigured them into a small boat, complete with a self-rowing paddle and oar.

Deciding it was a good opportunity to check an area free of debris, Garvan, Harvey and Keir got to work in the area where the bones had been moved while Maurice stood near the water with his wand still out, more interested in watching what the Professors were doing than his task.

"I don't recognize the seal," Danny admitted. "I was expecting to see a Slytherin seal. I also don't detect any curses, but that doesn't make sense, does it?"

"Perhaps it does," Severus said, studying the seal. "This isn't the normal crest that is normally used on a ward of this sort. There are runes woven in here," he explained. "They roughly translate to: 'Do not open until after completion.'"

"Completion of what?" Danny asked.

"The castle, I assume," Severus said, running another detection spell. "I don't think it was put here by Slytherin at all. In fact, there seems to be light magic involved. There is a door ward on this, but it seems to be focused on keeping things from coming in this chamber rather than to keep us from leaving it. Probably to protect against anyone attempting to sneak into the castle from this direction."

"Really? I wonder where this tunnel leads then," Danny said.

"I am not certain. The plans for this part of the castle were lost a long time ago... probably intentionally considering this area is below the Chamber. And since we don't know for certain..."

"Prepare for anything," Danny finished.

"If anything goes awry, you're in charge of getting the students out of here," Severus added.

"I knew that one was coming too," Danny admitted wryly, readying her wand. Much to her surprise, it didn't take long before the seal dissolved. "I take it that it wasn't as bad as we thought?"

"Apparently the main component was a conditional charm. Fortunately, "completion" was interpreted loosely; to me it feels like this castle is indeterminably under construction," Severus said, using his wand to raise the gate.

Beyond it was a finished water channel laid in stone and with walkways on both sides of the arched tunnel. Several wooden doors lined the wall on the right side, while the opposite wall was empty of anything but empty torch sconces. Even so, they could see quite plainly; for sunlight streamed in from the far side of the tunnel.

"So it does lead out of the castle," Brittle said. "Aren't we too deep for that? Or are we directly under the dungeons on the cliff side?"

"We'll look, but first let's check those side rooms to be safe," Severus said, glancing back at the students. Except for Maurice, who was watching them intently, the rest of them were still making a halfhearted attempt at checking the nest area. Signaling Maurice to wait, Severus then did cursory checks on the doors before opening the first one. He peered in for a while before Danny became impatient and did the same. Inside were simple cots and chests on a stone floor with woven straw mats.

"Nothing more than just a servant's room. For the boatman, maybe?" Danny conjectured.

"Perhaps," Severus said, but made no attempt to move away from the door, still studying the room.

"Next one, then?" Danny asked.

"Don't you notice something odd about this room? Considering how long it has been since that seal was put up?" Danny looked at the room again, then frowned. It was entirely clean.

"There's no dust," Danny said. "Or cobwebs or anything else." Severus walked over to the next door, and it was a primitive kitchen and fireplace; empty of food but also scrubbed clean. "Preservation spell?" Severus frowned at that, giving the primitive bath area only a cursory look before continuing on to the next room... another plain bedroom. It was then he noticed a strange sound and paused, motioning Danny to stay still. He was fairly sure he already knew what the sound was and couldn't help but being baffled about it, taking out his wand. Danyelle did the same, nodding to let him know that he heard it too as they crept over to the next last door and opened it.

It was the ghost of a woman, sweeping the floor. She was wearing a simple wool dress with her hair tied up in what must have been leather; young but aged from apparent hardship. So intent was she on her chore that Severus wasn't certain at first whether or not she had noticed them. But subtle movements of the head made him think that she was at least partially aware of their presence. Danny watched her a moment as well, glancing at him questioningly as if wondering how to proceed.

"Good afternoon," Severus said out loud. The woman kept on sweeping, but turned her back to him. "I am Severus Snape, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts. And you are?"

The ghost glanced around at the room and faded away.

"Well! What do you suppose that was all about?" Danny asked.

"I don't think she's gone far. After all, she's been confined to this tunnel for a thousand years, she may not think to leave it," Severus said.

"What a crummy place to spend an eternity! Hang on, I wonder what sort of charms they put on that broom to keep it from wearing out considering how long she's been using it?" Danny wondered. Severus gave her a dirty look. "Sorry, I meant to ask why do you think she was left here all of this time?"

"Obviously, it wasn't entirely intentional... at least it wasn't by whomever put that seal on the tunnel. More than likely, she was causing some sort of disturbance and it was decided to leave her here until the castle was completed. It really wasn't all that long before the Founders had that falling out, not to mention what happened with their apprentices," Severus reasoned. "It is very likely that whoever was involved in the decision to seal her until after construction had left Hogwarts without informing the new Headmaster that she was down here."

"So you mean Dusthorn," Danny said.

"Not so loud," Severus said with a grimace.

"So what now?" Danny asked.

"Find out who she is, obviously. I will ask Janus if he will come down and talk to her since she's not likely to understand us fully," Severus said. "Even so, I can't help but wonder what the problem was with her, considering that other ghosts here that were allowed to roam free even those earliest years."

"Like Dame Rachel," Danny agreed with a nod. "Since she likes to clean so much, maybe she was moving things about or getting in the way?"

"Perhaps, although I don't see why they'd find it all that troubling," Severus said, then tested one of the tables with his finger. "Still, it seems that she's missed a spot..."

Suddenly the broom became active, taking Severus by surprise when it whacked him hard across his stomach, knocking him backwards before swinging around and smashing its bristles over his head. Before Danny could recover from surprise, the broom stormed out of the room, bobbing up and down as it marched out.

"Wow. That explains a lot," Danny observed.

"A lot of help you were!" Severus wheezed. Danny gave a sheepish, apologetic smile.

"You want me to go bottle her?" Danny suggested.

"No, no... she's been confined enough as it is." Severus decided, slowly recovering.

"But if we let her out, she might start doing that to the students too, you know..."

"Which is precisely why she's down here, yes, and a thousand years in confinement probably didn't help her disposition," Severus said, brushing himself off in annoyance. "Even so, after dealing with Peeves all of these years, I'm sure the majority of our students are well versed in how to handle a pestering poltergeist. We also have a way of dealing with troublesome ghosts that the original faculty didn't."

"Zachius Black?" Danny said.

"Precisely," Severus said, stepping back out to check on the students.


	15. Parry, Dodge, and Block

_A/N: If you want to make an archive of the short story 'Beyond the Walls', do it asap, because I'll be taking it down this week. It was the first fanfic story on the channel and has never been edited, based entirely on a dream I had. The fact of the matter is that being 16 years old, it isn't really a reflection of my writing today. When people are checking out a writer for the first time, they often go to the shortest story, and it just doesn't represent my writing style; I'd much rather Carol Trolls or Phoenix Wand as a first experience. Thanks! ~Doublequill._

Chapter Fifteen

Parry, Dodge, and Block

Hope Willowby had not been happy when she found out about Maurice and Garvan's excursion below the castle, especially after finding out that her grandfather hadn't even considered asking her to go.

"Really, you're making too big of a deal out of it, Hope. It isn't like we even found anything... at least nothing about what we've been researching," Garvan explained. "We combed the area completely and nothing was down there at all except for one irate ghost, and we didn't even get to see her. We just heard about her."

"Well, maybe the ghost knows something about the distaff then!" Hope argued.

"It's possible she's heard about it, Hope, but she's been locked away for too long to know anything about what happened to it," Maurice explained calmly. "Besides, she really hasn't come out of the cistern yet. Nobody understands her except for Janus Craw, so it's not like we could interview her directly,"

"Don't tell me what you don't know. Tell me what you do know," Hope said with a sigh of exasperation.

"Well, I do know her name is Bethia. She was a serf who served one of the head masons, and one shouldn't ever get in the way when she's cleaning a room. I also know that we didn't find anything else significant in her rooms. After we got done searching, Bethia became aware that there was another room past the seal and she began cleaning the nest, but that didn't uncover anything either. Between her efforts and what my brother had done to dismantle the Chamber booby traps before this point, I think we can safely rule it out as a possible hiding place. Not only that, but the water channel itself is charmed with a one-way vertical hold spell on it. Once you get past a certain point in the tunnel, you get transported straight up to the boat dock on the surface. In fact, that's how we left."

"Always good to have an escape route down there," Hope decided.

"Yes, but don't get any ideas. Severus added a number of new wards on the channel once the area was gone through so it's likely any more poking around will just get you in trouble."

"Fine," Hope huffed and dropped the subject.

None of the Owls were surprised to see her in detention a few days later. Fortunately for them, Hope didn't have time to do any more poking around after that. OWLS were looming, and Hope knew she was going to have to really get a handle on her worst subjects to bring them up to an acceptable level to pursue an Auror career. Wisely, she decided to enlist Garvan and Natalie to help her study rather than Kaylynn and Harriet.

"There's studying, and then there's _studying_ ," she explained to her friends at breakfast, saying the second one in an ominous tone. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get all Lucky on you guys, and I still want to help find out what's going on with all of those omens."

"That's all well and good, Hope, but we're running out of time now," Natalie said. "Summer will be here before we know it and we're not getting any further in our research. We keep hitting dead ends."

"Maybe all the research we can do is already been done. Maybe what we ought to do is to organize a castle search to look for it. We might have eliminated the Chamber, but we've barely scratched the surface in other parts of the castle," Hope said.

"That'd be all well and fine if we had endless time to do so, but we don't," Natalie said, pointedly tapping the calendar in her class diary.

* * *

"Where did the time go?" Jennifer complained to Hermione when she went to Hermione's office to turn in all of her end of term test copies. "OWLS in progress, finals around the corner. Can't we push summer back a little?" Hermione chuckled at that.

"This year is not moving any faster than any other year. The only thing different is the fact that you have that conference coming up and you don't feel prepared for it yet," Hermione said knowingly.

"Well, yes, there is that," Jennifer admitted with a sigh.

"You have nothing to worry about, Jennifer, you already put in the work when you wrote your last article on dream therapy. You just need to dress it up and present it. That panel you're fretting over is not going to be anywhere near as bad as you think. More than likely, all the other wizards on the panel that specialize in this sort of thing are going to do all of the talking anyway. You're just there to fill one the seats," she teased. Jennifer blinked at that.

"You don't really mean that, did you?" Jennifer asked anxiously.

"I can help you get organized if you like," Hermione said as a way of an apology. "Maybe then you can concentrate on where the two of you are going for vacation after the conference."

"Oh... sailing somewhere, I suppose," Jennifer said, waving it off. "I recall Severus saying something about how it'll be nice to get out on the water without having to wonder if Leu is being eaten by sharks while we're having tea." Hermione laughed at that. "Somewhere out in the Mediterranean near the conference, probably. I'm getting to know the western coastline fairly well."

"Then maybe you should head to the eastern side for a change," Hermione suggested. "Head to Greece or Turkey or somewhere else out of your comfort zone."

"Thank you, but I'm far enough out of it as it is," Jennifer said, Hermione smiling in amusement as Jennifer walked out and down the hallway. Coming from the other direction was Andrew, who was going to Hermione's office to drop his tests off as well. "I don't suppose you'd like to represent me at the conference, would you?" Jennifer inquired. Andrew laughed at that.

"Starting to loom over you, is it, Mum? Don't worry, you'll be fine. Besides, you know I'm not going to be around."

"Ah yes, the health sabbatical. Where is that going to be again?"

"You worry about your trip and let me worry about mine," Andrew said firmly.

"I really don't see why you need to be gone all summer long when you were just gone for one and a half years..."

"It wasn't that long for me," Andrew reminded her. Seeing his father approaching, he looked up pleadingly in hopes of moral support.

"This again?" Severus commented critically.

"If he needs a vacation that's all well and good, but I don't see why you don't just come with us," Jennifer argued.

"Mother, the whole point of my going on this trip was needing some time alone to figure out who I am. I know you're still shaken by how long we were gone and hearing about our adventures when we got back, but I don't plan to do anything dangerous on this trip. Toby suggested I get away for a while, and obviously, Father agreed with him or he wouldn't have given me permission to leave for so long," Andrew said, Severus squinting at him in response. "Besides, it's obvious that Father doesn't want me to go with you."

Jennifer whipped her head around to study Severus.

"Why, you don't want him going along!" Jennifer said accusingly.

"Jennifer, I'll admit that I would prefer to spend what little vacation I'm going to have with just the two of us, especially since we had to wrangle sitters for the duration of the conference anyway," Severus replied calmly. "But do you realize that the only reason Andrew pointed that out was so that he could make a quick exit?"

Jennifer whirled around, but Andrew had become invisible the moment she had turned to confront her husband and he had already closed the door to Hermione's office.

"Now, do me a favor and stop pestering him about it. I'm sure he'll be perfectly fine and he's long overdue for some time on his own," Severus said. "Zack is coming up to the Study at lunchtime. Would you mind escorting him up and filling him in about Bethia? This is your early lunch day, is it not?"

"Yes, all right, fine," Jennifer replied. "But I thought this was the day you typically had lunch with Maurice."

"Already met with him during his study period, actually," Severus said, making a move towards the Deputy Headmaster's office.

"Then what are the Owls planning to do next?" Jennifer asked.

"Sorry, need to get these tests dropped off, Regulations you know, we have to have them in early now..."  
"That's your regulation," Jennifer said flatly.

"Precisely why I need to make sure these are in on time," Severus concluded and slipped in the door. Glowering, Jennifer reluctantly went back down to the lab to prep for her next class.

* * *

Professor Rogue had been reluctant to help in the search, but begrudgingly he allowed the Corey portraits to help Maurice gather information. After classes, Maurice went to the art room to get a report, unsurprising when he got his answer.

"We talked to every painting we could, even some in the repair closet. I might have even accidentally jostled one or two awake," Corey said.

"Or perhaps not so accidentally," Doug added knowingly.

"Nobody saw anything, so either it was put in a room with no paintings or the paintings were moved out beforehand."

"Wouldn't that have seemed odd to a painting? Getting moved out of a room then back again?" Maurice asked.

"Not really. We get moved around all the time for lots of reasons, whether it's change of display or cleaning or repairs or near death experiences from Lianan Sidhe," Corey said. "We might get curious who are painting neighbors are after a move, but I doubt any of them would think anything of it. It might as simple as a room getting a thorough detail or painted or paneled and not wanting to get any of us damaged."

"A renovation is an interesting thought. It could have been hidden behind a panel or a wall or something," Maurice said.

"Yes, but I don't think that's likely," Corey decided.

"Why not?" Maurice asked.

"Well, the Distaff was returned to the school after it was taken, right? If I were a Headmaster, I'd put it somewhere I could check on it periodically so that I could be certain it wasn't taken again," Corey said.

"That's true. You're right," Maurice said, thinking it over. "Which makes it even more likely that the Distaff is probably hidden somewhere in plain sight. In fact, I'm quite certain of it. Somewhere a Headmaster would often have a reason to visit often."

"But that could be anywhere in this castle!" Corey protested.

"Maybe not everywhere. What about the main stairwell? I'm sure nobody has tried to remove all of those paintings."

"Professor Dusthorn has, though, when she calls meetings," Corey pointed out. Maurice grew thoughtful again.

* * *

"No."

"But you haven't let me finish what I was trying to say..."

"No, and I don't care to hear it. Don't you have something to study for?"

Maurice stood in front of Severus' desk with a gaze that Severus saw all too often on Jennifer's face, knowing all too well that it only meant trouble.

"I'm a sixth year. And I'm at the top of all of my classes," Maurice reminded him.

"That's entirely beside the point," Severus said.

"But if she knows something..."

"I really don't care what she knows. I think I have been more than a bit accommodating with your silly search considering I allowed you to go under the Chamber itself to look, but I am drawing the line at waking her up. If that's the only way to find the thing, then it's going to stay hidden. Now, why don't you go help Hope study? I heard she was fretting over her exams," Severus said. Sighing at the obvious dismissal, Maurice left the office and went down to the library.

"You're early," Ambrose commented when he reached for a stack of books. "I thought you had lunch with your brother today."

"Yes, tried to anyway, but he picked today to be uncooperative," Maurice explained. "I should have known he'd be a bit surly about the idea."

"What idea?" Ambrose prompted.

"Well, the paintings asked around and didn't find out much, but I think that's because the only one that might know something is asleep," Maurice explained.

"Oh, no," Ambrose said with a chuckle. "You asked him to wake _her_ up? I'm surprised he didn't throw you out sooner. He probably hasn't even recovered from the last time she was awake a couple of years ago."

"It isn't as if she caused all that much trouble," Maurice said.

"She did help cover for Janus," Ambrose pointed out. "And it's far from the only time that she's done stuff behind the Headmaster's back when she's awake. Don't get me wrong, she seems nice enough and all, but I'm certain it's a lot worse for him when she goes rogue considering that it's his job to keep this place under control. Are you sure she has anything to do with the Distaff?"

"No, I'm not. But considering her real self was Hufflepuff's apprentice and all, and the fact that she can move the paintings around, she might know something."

"Professor Rogue can move paintings around as well, but I don't think he had anything to do with it. You're going to have to come up with some pretty impressive evidence before the Headmaster would even consider it. Are you sure you're not grasping at straws?" Ambrose asked. Maurice frowned at that.

"It's possible," Maurice admitted. "I suppose I've gotten a bit obsessive with looking, but I do seem to be at an impasse right now. Most of the other order members have stopped researching or have given up. I think only Halle and Diana are the only ones that have been intent about it as I have been lately. Summer is closing in, and I feel like we're not going to be able to find it before it's time to go."

"Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it'll prevent whatever it is from happening," Ambrose suggested. Maurice frowned dubiously at that. "Omens and premonitions hardly ever turn out exactly how you think they'll turn out, after all. Remember what happened to Skittles in book four?"

"Yes, I know," Maurice said with a sigh, sorting through his stack. "They can be completely misinterpreted, and we may be off on the wrong track. But there is something we do know... and that is that the Distaff exists and is somewhere in the castle."

"Unless it was destroyed?" Ambrose suggested.

"No, it would have been reported to the Ministry. If they reported its return, they also would have filed a report for that," Maurice said.

"Well, that would depend. It could been destroyed under a different Headmaster who wasn't keen enough on the Ministry to have bothered," Ambrose said.

"Fine, you have a point," Maurice said. "Severus is right about one thing. I really ought to be preparing for term exams."

"Good idea," Ambrose said. "After your shift."

With that reminder, Maurice got back to sorting through returned books.


	16. Setting Up Shop

Chapter Sixteen

Setting Up Shop

It was the last trip to Hogsmeade for the year; and as usual, most of the faculty decided to skip it in favor of working on writing reviews and marking homework they had gotten behind on. Despite their absence, Toby the Tinker was expecting a great deal of business, opening a bit early to check over the shelves before settling in near the jar and pouring himself some tea. He wasn't surprised when Ambrose was the first to arrive, followed by Maurice and Beth.

"Ah, good morning. Decided to beat the rush?" Toby winked.

"Better than Honeydukes. It's so warm out that everyone went straight for the vanilla snowballs today," Ambrose said.

"Essie says the winds will change tomorrow and bring in the rain," Maurice said.

"While I'm not keen on heat, I'm glad it's not raining today," Beth said, looking around. "Here's just the thing. A hand fan... oh, and there's a small book attached. Do these go together?"

"Ah, yes, I believe that is probably a booklet on fan language," Toby said.

"Oh, how lovely! I've always wanted to learn that, not that anyone uses it these days," Beth said. "There's too many convenient spells to cool down now, including ice logs"

"So you'd be willing to do without them?" Maurice challenged her.

"Well no, not really, but I can appreciate the past and still be grateful for living in the present," Beth said, putting her money in the jar.

"Thank you, Miss Coventry. I believe getting out in the world has truly been good for you."

"Just getting away from the rest of my family was good for me," Beth said bluntly.

"I understand," Toby said, then turned to Maurice. "So how's the thread project going?"

"Oh, all right. Cain was happy with it at least, since I was able to put all the waterproofing charms on he wanted, and Ambrose taught us how to use a basic loom," Maurice said, glancing around the shop.

"Looking for something specific?" Toby asked.

"I don't suppose you have anything in here that can find a specific magical item?"

"If you need to find a specific magical item, you may need something very specific to find it," Toby answered.

"Right now I'd settle for a point in the right direction," Maurice sighed.

"Is the research not going well after all, then?" Beth asked with a frown.

"Not really. And we're out of time," Maurice said.

"Really? I'm not sure you know what that's like, do you?" Toby mused. Maurice looked up questioningly. "Being out of time, I mean."

"I didn't meant literally," Maurice said. "See, there's been all of these omens about something happening this summer, and..."

"Oh, no. Not this again!" Toby interrupted with such exasperation that Maurice blinked in surprise. "Maurice, hasn't your sister ever told you about her experiences with the Obol of Indecision?"

"Not really, although I've heard Severus and Aurelius mention an Obol. But it's usually used to end a conversation, though I'm not sure why it always does," Maurice admitted. "I'd never had a reason to delve into it."

"Well, how about you do both of us a favor and talk to your sister about what you're going through? Really, I've covered this subject so many times I'm quite tired of talking about it, and I promised myself not to interfere in this current situation any more than absolutely necessary," Toby protested, trying to shoo him away from the counter.

"Wait, if you promised yourself to say out of the situation, that just proves that there is a situation going on, or you wouldn't have done that," Maurice deduced. Toby furrowed his brows and looked over at his son, who was smiling.

"He's got you there, Father," Ambrose said.

"I think you're starting to rub off on him," Toby muttered. "Really, Maurice, I wash my hands of it. You really need to talk to you sister about it." Halcyon let out a cheerful greeting, and Toby looked up as Jennifer and Severus stepped further into the shop, Severus already squinting suspiciously at them.

"Good morning, all! I love the sign," Jennifer said mischievously.

"Speak of the Devil!" Toby said gratefully. "And his wife, of course."

"You're one to talk," Severus snapped.

"What does the sign say?" Ambrose asked with interest.

"Family, friends, and accomplices only," Jennifer said with amusement. "So what were you talking about when we came in?"

"I was saying that it's about time that Maurice heard the Obol story, Jennifer. Preferably sooner rather than later," Toby said, glancing at Severus, who looked quite solemn.

"But that'd mean I'd have to interfere for that, wouldn't it?" Jennifer inquired.

"Not if you were doing it as Head of the Family," Severus decided. "But don't you dare get involved in Maurice's student project. Maurice, I'm holding your responsible if your sister ends up getting involved."

"And who is going to be held responsible if you get involved, Severus?" Toby asked. Severus blinked at that.

"I'm the Headmaster, it's my job to get involved with student affairs," Severus said crisply.

"I see. Well, in that case, I suppose I'll be the one responsible for you," Toby decided. Severus blinked then squinted again.

"Exactly what do you mean by that?" Severus demanded.

"What I mean is that right now you should be concentrating on end of the term matters, so that you can stay ahead of them and help support your wife who is very nervous about attending the European Healer's Conference. Not to mention preparing for the vacation to recover from it," Toby chided him.

"Mr. Toby, my hero," Jennifer said brightly, cutting off what Severus was going to say. "I don't suppose you have anything in this shop to help keep my notes and everything organized?"

"Yes, but I don't think Severus is for sale," Toby said, rubbing his chin. Severus sighed.

"Fine, it wasn't as if I wasn't planning on helping in that capacity anyway," Severus said, looking rather annoyed as she happily held onto his arm a moment. "I was intending to make her work for that," he grumbled.

"She works hard enough as it is. Come to think of it, so do you. And I think you both would be better off concentrating on your vacation instead."

"Oh, look, Severus! It's a complete set of those Meglomaniacs Club books," Jennifer said. Maurice whirled around.

"What! I didn't see that when I came in!" Maurice protested.

"Probably because you already own them," Toby pointed out.

"Hang on, this one include the book that doesn't even come out until next month!" Maurice said, grabbing the tome out of the box and opening up to see blank pages.

"Spoilers," Toby tsked at him.

"Perhaps I'll get this, Severus. Everyone's been after me to read them, and it'd be much more convenient to have them in a boxed set like this instead of having to hunt them all down," Jennifer said, helping her chagrined brother put the book back into the box.

"You're not going to have _that_ much time on the boat to read," Severus scowled.

"Well, true, but at least I could get it started," Jennifer decided.

"Here, let me get that," Maurice offered, a little surprised at how light it ended up being as he put the book set on the counter and Jennifer paid for it.

"Thank you. Now, why don't you two pop off to chat so I can have a word with Severus?" Toby suggested.

"Maybe Beth and I ought to go secure us a table at the Pannage," Ambrose suggested.

"We'll meet you at the Three Brooms, Severus," Jennifer said.

"Fine. I want to hear your rendition of what happened as well," Severus said.

"I'll make sure to tell him anything you'd object to on the walk there then," Jennifer teased, sliding the books into her Unremarkable shopping back before walking out with Maurice.

"Very well, old man, what do you want this time?" Severus asked.

"Ah, I have a present for you behind the counter. It's a gift, free of charge... one moment," Toby said, getting up to fetch it.

"How is it that any time you give me a present there's typically hidden costs?" Severus asked skeptically.

"Well, if you must know, there's a sort of lesson involved in this one," Toby explained, taking out a scroll before going to the other end of the counter to fetch a case.

"Oh, really? You haven't given me one of these in a while," Severus said thoughtfully.

"Well, Severus, you haven't needed one in a while. You know enough about Ancient Magic now to rightly be called an specialist in the field... not an expert in my book by any means, but definitely one as far as modern knowledge on the subject goes..."

"I'll concede if it means you get to the point," Severus said.

"Well, I suppose the point is that it's time you had this lesson," Toby said, putting the scroll in the case and snapping it tight. Severus didn't miss the soft green glow that had come off the case when he did so and immediately inspected it the moment that Toby put it on the counter.

"This is a time sensitive conditional lock," Severus said suspiciously.

"Well yes, but the lesson isn't about testing your knowledge of locks..."

"I don't suppose you'd simply tell me what the conditions are so I don't have to decode it?" Severus said.

"I shall," Toby said agreeably. "The condition is that you wait until you're on vacation to open it, while you're out at sea, and when you have a nice, quiet moment so you can concentrate on the lesson fully. I don't want any of the normal school distractions for it, or the conference for that matter. This lesson will need your full attention. Perhaps when you get some alone time when Jennifer goes off to read one of those nice books she just acquired," he suggested. "Some true, quality, quiet time."

"You know how much I get of that," Severus said dryly.

"Yes, so I do, which is why I added conditions," Toby pointed out. Severus sighed.

"I'll take it and use it but I'll reserve my thank you until afterwards," Severus decided.

"You're welcome," Toby said with a smile as Severus took the box.

Toby pulled up his sleeve and glanced at his watches, glancing at the bottle of juice that had appeared on one of the front shelves. A moment later the door opened, and he heard hard panting as the cloaked figured removed the hood off his Invisibility Cloak, adjusting the hood of his regular one.

"Had a close call, did we?" Toby asked. He grimaced, exchanging his small box for the juice bottle. "Well, don't worry, Deuce. The trap is set. I doubt you'll be needed here for a while."

"And if so, I'm sure you'll tell me," the Deuce said dryly.

"I mean it this time. We have reached a temporary equilibrium now. We're going to stay out of it. In fact, I think I'll take some time off for good behavior. After all..."

"For every necessary evil there should be an equal amount of necessary good, I know, I know," the Deuce protested, putting down the juice. Toby frowned.

"At least have the decency of letting me say it first. I thought it was rather clever," Toby complained. "Now, why don't you head home and get some rest? See you next time."

"Yes, that's very amusing," the Deuce said.

"Just getting even," Toby said mischievously as the Deuce faded out of view. Toby then walked over to change the sign, ready to handle more trivial business for a while.


	17. In a Manner of Speaking

Chapter Seventeen

In a Manner of Speaking

Maurice sighed as he walked to towards the Owl Room, having checked every test score and all his luggage before finally running out of excuses.

"I don't know why you're in such a mood. They're flying Slytherin colors this year thanks to your efforts. It wasn't even close," Garvan reminded him.

"It wasn't close because Charles kept the Gryffindor points down and Leu and Diana had last minute scuffle in the hallway and every Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in the area decided to jump in the middle of it."

"I know that, but that's not the point," Garvan said. "You're two for two on winning the cup, which means you're almost a cinch to be Head Boy next year, relations or not. And you're getting the Owl pin on top of it."

"I don't want the stupid pin. We didn't achieve our Owl Goal this year," Maurice said.

"Actually, we did. We turned in our research reports about everything we've found out, and as the Headmaster pointed out, the focus had been on researching the omens from the start," Garvan argued.

"Yes, I suppose, but I only worded it that way to be diplomatic. What I wanted was to find that Distaff... and the spinning wheel as well, for that matter," Maurice admitted.

"Maybe it was destroyed. Maybe it was something that wasn't meant to be found," Garvan said.

"No, I don't think that's it," Maurice said. "Do you remember how in book three when Hettie and the others got trapped in that Mirror Maze trying to reach the Artifacts of Success?"

"And failed... as they always did. Honestly, it felt like most of the upper classmen were put in as comic relief during those first few books," Garvan said with a snort.

"True, but my point is in that case they failed because they weren't capable of retrieving the items they were searching for even if they had wanted to. Miss Young was the only person who could have found them, because of the spells in the room."

"Obviously. The troublesome trio were only down there as a plot device to get her down there," Garvan decided.

"Yes, but what if the reason we can't find it is we're simply not the person who's supposed to find it?" Maurice said.

"I'll buy that, especially if it'll get you off the subject," Garvan said. Maurice gave him a dirty look. "We still did all the book work, and we turned the report in to the Headmaster. So why don't you let him deal with it?"

"I suppose I don't have a choice, although Severus isn't going to be much help if something happens while he's on holiday," Maurice said.

"Some holiday! They're going to a Healer's conference. While I'm glad your sister is receiving some recognition for her work, I am quite certain that both of them would rather be lost at sea somewhere than being in a stuffy meeting room," Garvan said.

"Yes, you're right about that," Maurice said. "But Leu and Quintin are staying with us for the duration so that he and my sister can get some relaxation time in. I just hope I'll find enough time to read my copy of the new MC book when they get Owled tonight."

"So sure you're getting one?" Garvan teased him.

"Of course I am. I'm one of the top students in the school," Maurice said unabashedly as the two of them went into the Owl Room to find everyone else waiting on him.

"About time you got here!" Hope complained. "Keir didn't think you were coming."

"Of course, I came," Maurice sighed. "I had hoped we'd have found the Distaff by now, though."

"Well, you're definitely no Harry Potter. I heard that when he was a student, he solved every case he had by the end of every school year," Hope said. Harvey rolled his eyes.

"He didn't solve cases, you nit, he wasn't an Auror yet," Harvey said. "And if he did find a lot of missing artifacts while he was at school, it was because he was breaking every rule in the book."

"Well, sometimes you have to break a lot of rules to get at the truth behind things," Hope argued. Maurice pondered that. Had he been playing it too safe?

"Yes, but you shouldn't go about it recklessly like you and Chuck do," Natalie pointed out.

"Hey! Don't bring me into this! I never claimed to be Potter, Nat," Chuck protested. "But I do agree that Hope has been getting cocky ever since she squeaked past her tests just barely within OWLS range. Now that you're going for Auror, you're going to have to play by the rules if you want to make it through the next two years. I bet you didn't even earn a copy of the Wizards of MC book."

"I bet you didn't either," Hope retorted, then thought about that a moment. "I call first dibs on Natalie's copy."

"Hey!" Chuck immediately reacted.

"Nobody is reading it until I'm done reading it. And I'm not sharing with anyone who hounds me about it before I'm done," Natalie warned.

"Can you save this argument til you get home? We do have a feast to attend, you know," Garvan pointed out.

"A very good point," Boulderdash said from his seat. "Leu, if you'll do the honors?"

"Right," Leu said, taking the offered Owl pin from Boulderdash and pinning it on Maurice's collar. "For having the most feathers by far and for leading the research team, you have earned this year's Owl pin."

"Well done," the other students said, with a congratulations thrown in here and there.

"The omens are still there," Diana said evenly, offering no congratulations at all.

"True. But as Garvan pointed out, we did hand over a lot of research to my brother and Professor Hermione. I'm sure they can handle it from here," Maurice said. Diana frowned, displaying the skepticism that Maurice had been feeling. Somehow, her reaction made him question his own doubt that everything was going to be handled. He had never doubted the capability of any family member before; certainly not his brother-in-law or sister. Why was he so unsure of it now? Maurice masked his troubled thoughts with stoicism, firmly nodding to her. "Thank you, everyone. But we should start getting ready, especially us Slytherin."

"This is getting to be old hat for us," Keir smirked, causing Hope to boil over again.

"Well, we're breaking the streak next year, so don't get to comfortable!" Hope said haughtily.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Keir said, getting up. "Come on, you two, back to the common room." Harvey and Viorica followed him out, and then Garvan waved as he and Maurice left as well.

"I don't care what else happens. We should do everything in our power to get the cup next year... to wipe those smug looks off their faces if nothing else!" Hope said.

"You're far too worked up," Natalie scolded her and got up.

"I may have missed an assignment here and there, but I did ace my Defense standard. Think he'll still give me a book?" Hope asked hopefully.

"So that's what's got you so worked up?" Natalie sighed. "Fine, if it'll calm you down, I'll let you read my copy first if you don't get one, but don't tell me what happens."

"What? I can't believe you gave in to her!" Chuck exclaimed.

"But if you don't both behave, I swear I'll let Father read it first, and you know how he is about spoilers. Have either of you finished packing yet?" Natalie squinted at them. Frowning at their sister, the two siblings decided to stay quiet as they walked back to the house rooms.

* * *

Severus was nearly halfway through his end of term speech when Jennifer slipped into place, grimacing when he glanced in her direction. As the faculty sat down and settled in, Anna immediately leaned over to look at her.

"Get everything done?" she asked.

"She'd better have considering how late she was," Severus warned crisply. Sally Scribe smirked but decided to stay out of it by pulling her chair closer to the food and out of the line of fire.

"Fine, fine, sorry. I'm ready to go, and so is Quintin," Jennifer promised them. "Thank you for helping us get them to Father's, Anna."

"Not a problem," Anna said. "You two just have a good time."

"Not likely until that conference is over," Jennifer admitted.

"I've seen you handle a lot tougher crowds than a room full of Healers, Jennifer. Your Father's trial comes straight to mind," Anna reminded her.

"Actually, she was quite determined then," Severus replied. "Right now she is behaving more like she did her first day of classes." Jennifer glared at him, but he was looking at his plate rather than at her.

"Really? That nervous, was she?" Anna said.

"Like a lamb to the slaughter."

"Do you mind not talking through me?" Jennifer snapped.

"I thought she handled herself quite well, actually," Hermione offered.

"Thank you," Jennifer said, quite annoyed and wondering how much of it was Severus' way of getting even because she was late. "It's never been a secret that I hate public speaking. There are too many minds on me and it's hard to think clearly."

"Surely you're used to it by now. You handle a classroom with little trouble on a daily basis," Sally said in spite of herself.

"That's different. They're students, not witches and wizards from all across Europe," Jennifer protested. "In a classroom, I'm the one in control."

"You're the one in control any time you do public speaking," Sally said. "It's no wonder you don't feel comfortable with it if you haven't realized that yet." Jennifer frowned.  
"I don't think she'll ever truly believe that, but I understand the problem," Severus said with such certainty that Jennifer turned her focus back on him. This time, he was looking in her direction. "It will be fine. I can be her mirror." Jennifer smiled brightly, realizing now what Severus had in mind.

* * *

Not long after checking in at the hotel and at the conference, Jennifer and Severus went to the meeting rooms along with one of the wizards in charge to make seating arrangements. It was not often that Severus used prestige to get any special privileges, but sometimes made exceptions on Jennifer's behalf. Severus made sure that Jennifer had a clear view of him in every meeting she had been invited to. He took particular care in choosing a seat in the room where she sat on the panel; picking a chair at the end of an easy-to-spot central aisle but still positioned in a seat where the lighting wouldn't get her in the way of her making eye contact with him when she needed to. With that taken care of, it was obvious that Jennifer was feeling more confident about the conference when it began the next day.

The behavior of the couple came as quite a surprise to the rest of the attendees, both from the Wizard's Council and the Healer's Council. Despite his reputation of being outspoken with quick intellect and brazen opinions, Headmaster Snape seemed aloof, disinterested, and unengaged.

Jennifer, however, was poised, lively, and enthusiastic. Very little seemed to phase her, and she was always quick and unhesitating any time anyone questioned her about her work or asked why she was even involved in dream research in the first place. Her change in behavior was such that the only ones who noticed were the few there who had met her before; but although she had caught it in their passing thoughts, none of them thought it polite to breach the subject.

Finally the last of Jennifer's obligations were done, and she agreed to attend the last dinner and conference party. This time, however, it seemed that the tables had turned; while Jennifer was still obviously happy and content, she seemed quite disinterested in speaking to anyone except Severus. Severus, on the other hand, was quite alert compared to the rest of his time during the conference. In fact, he was very busy posing questions to some of the speakers about their expertise, and most of the questions were ones that they wish he had asked during the actual panels rather than as casual party conversation. Jennifer, for her part, was too busy comparing the food selection to bother with anything else. She was rejecting most of it, chatting with the witch beside her about both the food and the accommodations and had no intention of conversing about anything else. In fact, she also seemed to be quite enthusiastic about staying for the soiree afterwards, mulling over the drink selections to find something suitable to their tastes.

Ivano Disparte stepped over to Severus as she was getting drinks, and Severus nodded to him cordially. The dark-haired Italian wizard had participated in many of the panels and was one of the head organizers, but Severus had only known him from the countless introductions he had sat through before each one. He was an alchemist that specialized in developing healing potions, Severus recalled.

"Ah, Professor Snape, thank you and your wife for attending, especially since I am aware just how demanding your schedule must be," Ivano said.

"Yes, but fortunately, you inquired early enough that we were able to prepare for it. In fact, I believe it came at a time when Jennifer was eager to focus on some personal research, and dream therapy potions has been one of her interests for years now," Severus said.

"Yes, understandable after what she told us about her own situation," Ivano agreed. "But I was wondering if it is appropriate to inquire about one of the potion line you once worked on?" Severus squinted slightly. "You did some work concerning the Lycanthropy potion, did you not?"

"Ah, that one," Severus said, relaxing noticeably. "I did do a revision on that potion after it originally came out, yes, although that was twenty odd years ago. I made some adjustments that improved its stability and lengthened its duration. A former Professor and friend of the school was inflicted and I strove to make doubly certain that the potion wasn't going to fail while he was on the premises... especially after a particular incident where the original formula did just that."

"Yes, I understand, although I think further improvements can be made to it, were I to gather some colleagues to work on it. The developers of the original formula have long since gone on to other projects if not retired, which means you are the current licensee of the formula," Ivano said.

"I see. Well, it's perfectly all right with me, although I would be interested in hearing of your progress from time to time, especially if its promising. I'm certain that school friend I spoke of would be delighted to hear if there's been progress."

"So he's still alive after all of this time? That's rather impressive," Ivano said. But Severus didn't miss the slight inquiry in his voice.

"His continued well being was a constant concern of the former Headmaster," Severus said. "But I also believe that having a family who depends upon him has also helped his desire to stay healthy and active. If you would like, I can pass on your address and your intentions to him, asking permission for you to inquire yourself."

"That would be well appreciated," Ivano agreed with a smile. There was a change in motion in the crowd an the two looked up as Jennifer returned with drinks and an exasperated smile.

"Oh! Severus! Please tell me you're not over here talking about potions or something," Jennifer scolded. "Especially after that dinner conversation."

"Yes, but it is something you would approve of," Severus assured her, and she smiled at had read off of him.

"Well, that's all well and good, and I do approve, but not tonight! As far as I'm concerned, we're already on holiday," Jennifer protested, handing him his drink. "Is the music going to start soon, Ivano? Please tell me it isn't that stuff the students listen to."

"Far from it, I assure you," Ivano promised, nodding cordially to her. "Is it all right if I bring some of our sponsors and patrons over to meet you when occasions arise tonight?"

"Fine, but for socializing. No business," Jennifer insisted.

"Thank you, I'll make certain they behave themselves," Ivano said. "But first, I'll see about that music."

"Thank you!" Jennifer said, taking just a couple of sips before motioning to put it on the table.

"You're not going to leave that there by itself, are you?" Severus asked in a low voice.

"Oh, Severus, really!" Jennifer said, and ended up drinking her wine much faster than she would have liked. "Must you always be so suspicious?"

"We are among strangers," Severus reminded her, then had to adjust his own drink when she threw her arms around his neck. "The music hasn't started yet, you know."

"We are among strangers," Jennifer echoed mischievously. "You've been brilliant all conference, do you know that? Absolutely brilliant, and yet I'm the only one who knows it."

"It's just as well. I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks anyway," Severus murmured. "And I didn't do anything but remind you why you're here, why you deserve to be here, and suggest a clever comeback now and then."

"You made a better mirror than if I had used my own, really," Jennifer admitted. "I'm sure it would have faltered halfway through."

"We are our own harshest critics. You are yours just as I am my own," Severus acknowledged. "And because of that, a mirror can lie."

"Is it the mirror that's lying, Severus, or do we just lie to ourselves?" Jennifer challenged.

"Perhaps a bit of both," Severus mused. "But I did neither. I simply reflected you as I see you."

"My hero," Jennifer said. "You're in quite a mood, aren't you?"

"If I am, you're to blame, the way you're gushing about tonight," Severus said disapprovingly.

"To be honest, I'm just relieved it's over," Jennifer said.

"For you, yes. For me, I'm doomed to an evening of socializing," Severus said with such disdain that Jennifer laughed softly, leading him out onto the dance floor. "Are you certain we can't simply skip this part and head to the ship?" he asked, learning over to her ear. "So that you can thank me properly."

"Oh, no you don't, Severus. Not until I've had a waltz or three. You'll appreciate getting back to the ship all the more if we stay awhile long."

"I am sure I'll appreciate it regardless," Severus said in a low voice. But Jennifer wasn't about to be dissuaded by his attempts, and they stayed nearly two hours before he was finally able to coax her back to the _Wizard's Temptation_.


	18. Book Bound

Chapter Eighteen

Book Bound

When Jennifer emerged wandered over to the ship's galley, she paused long enough to look out the window for a moment.

"Severus, where exactly are we anchored at?" Jennifer asked curiously, continuing over to the ice box.

"I don't know, near some island somewhere," Severus' voice came from the cabin. "Malta, I think."

"I rather think Malta is more than 'some island somewhere,' Jennifer chided him.

"Sorry, but I was distracted at the time."

"Is that what you're calling it, then?" Jennifer shouted teasingly, getting out a pan.

"I wouldn't push my luck if I were you," Severus warned. "You're lucky I let you out of my sight at all."

"Well, it can't be helped now, we've rather run short of sandwiches and snacks for some reason, so you might as well get dressed and come out so I can make us something more substantial," Jennifer suggested.

"Very well, although I'm not quite convinced that you've repaid the favor altogether," he said.

"Well, I am quite grateful, the way you let me focus on you while you were listening so intently like that. I had a much better perspective of what was going on without the added distractions of other people thinking about random things during the conference. How ever did you learn how to do that? You've never done it before," Jennifer asked. There was a pause in conversation before Severus emerged from the corridor, careful not to bump his head as he walked into the saloon and over to the galley counter.

"I got the idea after you sat in my Ancient Magic class, as a way to curb any unintentional cheating you were doing and yet still giving you a way to make eye contact when you needed to," Severus explained. "Although I must stay maintaining that level of both attention and internal meditation for longer than an hour at a time isn't something I was prepared for. I'm a bit out of practice for holding mental exercises for that long."

"Well, it worked splendidly," Jennifer assured him. "And considering how few conferences I attend and that being the first panel I've sat on in all these years, I seriously doubt it'll come up that often. I'd much rather be the one in the audience at one of your conferences rather than the other way around. And I am not out of practice being the support."

Severus pondered that for a long time, barely acknowledging the cup of coffee when it was sat in front of him.

"I wonder if we oughtn't to be more offended by that?" Severus asked at last. "After all, your research is just as important as any that I've been doing recently. I haven't had as much time to pursue anything outside of the school and family interests."

"The only reason I've been working on mine is because you pressured me into it to keep me busy," Jennifer said knowingly.

"Fine, let's leave motivation out if it for a moment. I get asked to attend conferences four to five times a year and attend one every two or three years. Hermione goes to them every time she's asked, provided it's on a weekend, and she typically attends a conference every other year. Corey attends the alchemist convention every year... when was the last time you were asked to speak at one?"

"After the Pellet Potions were developed, I believe," Jennifer admitted sheepishly. "But Severus, Corey is a practicing alchemist..."

"And you're not?" Severus challenged her.

"And you are the Headmaster of Hogwarts... famous for saving the entire universe from several time and dimensional disasters. It only makes sense that you get asked to speak more often," Jennifer said.

"Perhaps so. But it occurred to me that most of the members of the panel you were on, as well as speaking in the conference in general, were wizards rather than witches. Or can you explain that away also?" Severus asked. Jennifer sighed, getting out the eggs.

"I did notice it," Jennifer admitted. "But just as I have already pointed out, there could be other reasons."

"Or we could simply be prepared to accept there are other reasons because this is the way it's always been," Severus suggested.

"You are starting to sound just like your sister," Jennifer said, shaking her head at him.

"Oh?"

"She has made exactly that point on numerous occasions... about conferences and about a few other circumstances, actually," Jennifer explained. "Perhaps you should talk to her about it. I really have no interest in getting into that battle myself. Especially considering, as you pointed out, it took a lot out of you being my mirror for this conference."

"Perhaps if the audience wasn't quite so close-minded to witches with a different viewpoint than theirs, my acting as your mirror wouldn't have been as necessary..."

"Severus, I'm not going there," Jennifer said firmly. "My self confidence is more of an issue than what they're thinking about, anyway..."

"Are you saying that your issues with your self confidence have little to do with what others might be thinking about you?" Severus challenged her.

"All right, Severus, that's enough. The only fishing I want you doing today is out on the deck."

"I was simply attempting to make a point, Jennifer. And while I see plainly that you have no interest in questioning the status quo, as Headmaster of a school whose faculty is mostly female, it's well within my prerogative to question it," Severus said.

"Fine, but not while we're on vacation," Jennifer replied firmly.

"I'll drop it on one condition," Severus said. "I was asked by Disparte to help him with more advanced treatments for lycanthropy. Instead, I would like you to do the honors. I will act as your assistant."

"Me?" Jennifer said with surprise. "But you've done a lot more theoretical work on that topic than I have. I remember about how you conjectured that suspended temporal potions might reverse the disease, which is quite brilliant, really, although we have no way to prove that one without a recent victim. But therapies on long term victims would be much harder to develop..."

"True, but you may be able to find a volunteer, I think, were you to pursue it," Severus pointed out.

"More than likely," Jennifer agreed.

"Good. I'll send you all of my notes on the subject once I've returned to the school," Severus said.

"Fine, I'll concede, Severus, but only because I would love to help Remus... not because I want to start a gender revolution," Jennifer said firmly.

"Perhaps that is what Icarus and the omens were going on about this summer."

"I highly doubt that, Severus," Jennifer said, putting his breakfast in front of him.

"I suppose it is highly doubtful. Then again, it is also highly doubtful that the goblins are going to revolt as well," Severus said. "Still, a revolution can mean many things. It can be subtle. It's true that sometimes they involve many people. But sometimes it can be incited by a small handful... perhaps even one individual. And since the future is never certain... the path from when they saw it to the time predicted can change many times over with every decision made. It probably has already changed."

"Then why are you talking about it all of the sudden? Eat your breakfast," Jennifer scolded him, sitting down with her plate as well. "You have four more days of holiday and yet you sound as if you're already ready to get back to work."

"I found the last two days to be quite invigorating for some reason," Severus said in a low voice. "However, if you insist..."

"Don't you dare start that already. Your food is getting cold," Jennifer scolded him. "Did you want to head to shore for the day? I wouldn't mind trying out a Maltese restaurant... Sagittari has asked in passing if we've ever been."

"Fine, but I'm not sure I'm up to walking about all day today. Why don't we wait and head into port for dinner?" Severus suggested. "Perhaps this is a good time for me to study that box Merlin gave me. I can get it out of the way of whatever plans you may have tomorrow."

"That sounds fine with me, Severus. It'll give me a chance to break out one of those children's books I've been meaning to read," Jennifer said. "You know, Severus, I haven't felt compelled to read fiction since the last time you handed me one of your mysteries. But I admit I am quite curious about this silly children's series that seems to be so 'inspired' by Hogwarts."

"Yes, I've been hearing about it myself increasingly as of late," Severus nodded. "Once you've gotten through them, perhaps you can send them to the castle and I'll read them when I have nothing better to do at night."

"Don't start trying the sympathy tactic already, we still have four days yet," Jennifer tsked. "I'll make us a fresh pot of coffee."

It wasn't long before the two of them settled into the salon half of the cabin with Jennifer snuggled in under the window with a book and a blanket, while Severus sat on the side of the saloon next to the table, setting the scroll case upon it to study the lock. Fairly sure he had met all of the conditions written on the ward, Severus carefully opened it and took out the scroll. He gave the seal with Toby's mark on it only a casual inspection before he broke it.

It was only after he was blasted back by a blinding light and a powerful temporal rift that Severus realized he should have been a lot more cautious.

Severus blinked and shook his head to clear his vision, then realized that he must have blacked out. Slowly he used the table to pull himself up, glancing over to see that Jennifer was very still where she sat reading her book as if frozen in place.

"Jennifer?" Severus called out. He felt a sudden panic as he went over to her, putting his hand on her arm. But the moment he touched her, the cold sensation he had felt when he first touched her skin melted away and she looked up at him, startled.

"How did you get over here so fast?" Jennifer asked.

"Some sort of Freeze Frame effect," Severus conjectured and hurried to check on the crew. The Merrows, it seemed, were all fast asleep at their posts. But even when Severus restored their stasis with his touch, the entire crew remained fast asleep.

Frowning at that, he let out a sigh. Then he became alarmed at how easy it was to hear his own bread and looked out at the ocean. It was unusually still. Squinting at that, he grabbed a spy glass and looked off in the distance, a bit relieved that he could see wave movement about a cable length away. From where he stood, the movement seemed quite blurry, even after adjusting the glass. He then began looking through the glass in other directions, and noticed that the same blurred distortion was present even when looking up at the clouds. Growling softly, he went below.

"Are the Merrows all right?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, but magically asleep at the moment, and that's not all. There's a temporal field around the entire vessel along with part of the ocean and everything inside the barrier... a spherical one, if I'm not mistaken. We appear to be trapped in a time distortion," Severus informed her irritably, walking over to the scroll.

"What?" Jennifer exclaimed in disbelief.

"This is certainly Merlin's doing. I don't know what he's playing at, giving me this scroll. It wasn't a lesson so much as it was a trap," Severus snarled. "That's the real reason he wanted us out to sea before I opened it. He didn't want anyone else getting caught up in this bubble of his."

"But why? What did you do to make him this mad?" Jennifer asked. Severus blinked.

"I didn't do anything to the old man! At least nothing that I know of and nothing that would justify putting us in a temporal bubble out in the middle of nowhere!" Severus growled with frustration.

"I don't suppose you know how to break through it?"

"If I knew how to do break it, he wouldn't have used that particular spell," Severus snapped.

"Well... maybe the lesson is teaching you how to break out of it?" Jennifer suggested. Severus sighed and looked at the scroll, but he grew even more annoyed when he read it.

"This isn't a spell at all, Jennifer, it is simply a message written in runes: 'Terribly sorry about the inconvenience, but any plans you may have had to return home have been delayed until further notice. Expect an extended stay; I'm sure you'll find a productive way to pass the time. P. S. Attempting to break out in any other way other than the prescribed solution will only cause further delays. The brute force method is not going to work, so do yourself a favor and don't waste your time trying it. You have better things to do.'" Severus read, then looked over at Jennifer. "What do you suppose he means by prescribed solution? He didn't provide any solutions!"

"He did say something about being productive," Jennifer said.

"We can hardly be productive when we're stuck here dead in the water," Severus said, pacing.

"I don't know, Severus, maybe you can practice playing your violin. You're could always improve that."

"That is not funny," Severus scowled, watching as Jennifer went to the cabinets to check the food supply.

"Well, if nothing else, we should be able to get by on our supplies for a while. Mercy tends to get carried away restocking when you're going along on the trip, probably because she knows you don't care for having fish every night."

"I hope it doesn't come down to that," Severus said. "Doesn't he know that Hermione expects me back in less than a week?"

"Now, I'm certain he'll warn Ambrose that you're going to be gone for a while, if no one else... and really, we don't know just how long we're going to be in here, do we?"

"I think it's obvious from, 'expect an extended stay' that it is going to be longer than planned unless I do something..."

"Productive?" Jennifer interrupted. "Well, I'm going to get started back on these books. After all, I bought these at the same time that you got that scroll. Perhaps it's a hint to what I ought to be doing with my time." As Jennifer got down to reading, Severus walked back to their cabin to get his violin. But the more Severus thought about it, the more Severus realized that Jennifer may have the right idea. Setting his violin back down, he went back to the saloon.

"I would like to read those as well, if you don't mind," Severus decided, still sounding as irritated as he felt.

"All right, we'll take turns then," Jennifer agreed.

"I suppose I'll get us that fresh cup of coffee now," Severus said, glaring at the scroll accusingly as he stomped into the galley to fill their cups.

* * *

The day after school let out, Corey came down to breakfast and looked around in surprise when Rose was the only one there.

"What, no kids? Did they go out already?" Corey asked with surprise. Rose pointed up.

"They're all in the attic, reading," she explained.

"Oh ho, so some of them got the advanced copy, did they? How many copies did we went up with?" Corey asked with interest.

"Three."

"Even Charles got one? I'm impressed. Remind me to borrow a copy later," Corey said, snagging his toast sandwich off the plate and giving her a quick kiss. "See you when I get home."

"Don't work too hard," Rose said.

"Who, me?" Corey chuckled, stepping out the door. Rose shook her head and finished cleaning the kitchen, marveling how quiet it was before she went out to the green house.

Far to the west along the coast, Leu, Maurice and his mates had just finished breakfast themselves. Garvan, the quickest eater, was already up in Maurice's room when the rest of them got there, pouring over his copy, while Max had borrowed Leu's copy since Leu was still attempting to catch up.

"I don't think we'll get these done today. They're just too big," Cain complained.

"I'm fairly certain I'll get mine done today," Maurice said. "Although I think Beth might actually be a bit ahead of us since she didn't come down to breakfast."

"My father will be here in an hour. Still, there will be less distractions at home," Cain decided.

"I'm going to get my father to run me to the bookstore the moment he gets here. Are you sure you won't lend me yours, Leu?" Max asked for the third time.

"I only have a few more chapters left of this one," Leu explained. "I thought it might be nice to be all caught up for a change so I can understand what you're all talking about."

"Anyone else behind except Leu?" Max inquired.

"Kitane is, but she was rapidly catching up," Maurice said. "That's where my last four volumes are, actually. I loaned them to her for the summer."

"Do you think she got a copy from school as well?" Max asked.

"I rather think so, she was near the head of her class in defense," Leu said. "Keir got one too. He sent me an Owl this morning."

"Less talking, more reading," Garvan said with frustration. "I just got to the part with the fairies..."

"No spoilers!" the rest of them barked at him, then fervently started reading before anyone else made a similar comment.

It was a couple of days before the majority of parents saw any of their children... some of them collapsing from lack of sleep after the last page. But none of the Owls fell right to sleep. None of the Owls could sleep.

Maurice sat up in his bed when he got to the end, staring at it in disbelief.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Maurice said out loud. Maurice got up and paced the room, wondering what to do. Finally he snuck downstairs to send an Owl to Hogwarts. After several hours of waiting, he knew there wasn't going to be a reply. The castle was no longer under the school's control.


	19. Rounding up the Posse

Chapter Nineteen

Rounding up the Posse

It was very early the next day when students from the order started showing up at the Craw Mansion. In fact, it was so early that it had been Thomas answering the door when the first two waves of students came in with grim looks on their faces.

"We want to see Maurice," Diana said firmly, while Summer peeked out nervously behind her.

"Come right in, I suppose," Thomas said, letting the girls in.

"I'll show you the way," Leu said, leading them to the stairs. Maurice was standing on the landing.

"Dare I ask?" Thomas called up to Maurice.

"Not yet, Father..." he began, but the doorbell went off again. "Could you let whoever that is in? Also, I may need to go to Hogsmeade later."

"It's your summer, but I would like to know what you're up to," Thomas grunted.

"I'll let you know once I have more information," Maurice promised.

Thomas opened the door for Keir Box, Harvey Oxford, and a girl he didn't recognize. She was a pale, squirrelly girl with round glasses, dark braids, and features that didn't match any of the old families he knew.

"Who are you?" he asked her flatly.

"I'm Viorica Eddy," she said.

"Oh. I've heard about you," Thomas snorted then let them in. "Is the entire order going to show up at my door?"

"I don't think so, Father, that's why we need to go to Hogsmeade," Maurice explained. He glanced down a different hallway when he heard Beth running over.

"Did you finish this?" she asked Maurice anxiously.

"Yes, come on. Let's get out of the hallway," Maurice suggested. They all followed Maurice towards his room.

Thomas shut the front door with furrowed brows, striding into the kitchen to see Quintin at the table having his breakfast.

"I don't suppose you want to go closet yourself up with Maurice as well?" Thomas grunted at him.

"It's breakfast time!" Quintin said, apparently unconcerned by anything else.

"I should make them some drinks or something," Fleur suggested, a little curious as well. "Perhaps I can find out what they're up to in the process."

"I get the impression that they're not staying long," Thomas explained. "I think I'm going to go to work early. I want to drop by Flourish and Blotts on the way so I can find out what the craters is going on," he said.

"Thomas, really!" Fleur protested.

"Craters!" Quintin repeated happily. Fleur put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, well, handle that. I don't have the time," Thomas decided, striding out the door. Fleur made a face at Quintin, wondering if she was going to be able to correct the problem before Jennifer and Severus came home.

* * *

"You're not really going to read that out loud, are you?" Jennifer protested, glancing in the cabinets. "That's strange... we're better stocked than I recall. Suspiciously stocked..."

"'Miss Young stood in front of the students looking very much like a senior,'" Severus began, ignoring the grimace from Jennifer. "Like a delicate flower trembling in the wind, was this frail thing truly capable of teaching us of the darkest of magics?"

"That'll do, thank you," Jennifer glowered.

"'Still, she was a lovely creature, and many among the student body sought to impress her. Even some of the staff seemed taken... including old Professor Frump who stopped terrorizing students in the hall when she was around since she disapproved of his disciplinary efforts.'"

"Are you quite finished?" Jennifer snapped at him.

"Yes, I suppose, since you don't seem to be mentioned again for a while..."

"You're imagining things, Severus. It's a fictional story. I'm certain any likenesses you think there are to me in this book, they're quite coincidental," Jennifer said, ignoring the look Severus was giving her by preparing their drinks. "Besides, I am nothing like that."

"Not as you are now, perhaps. But it does fit how you were when you first came to Hogwarts. You didn't look old enough to teach, nor did you appear capable of teaching Defense at first glance."

"They don't teach Defense in Halls Castle, Severus, they teach Dark Magic," Jennifer argued.

"It's hardly surprising that they would include it in a children's book about a group of students bent on world domination, is it? The author is exaggerating the subjects taught and how quickly they can be mastered to thrill the child reader and make them feel empowered. In fact, once the faculty is established, this first volume concentrates on the formation of this club. Have you read to the point where they discuss why they want to take over Halls Castle?" Severus asked.

"Yes, because they no longer believed that the adults could protect them from the 'Great Evils' of the world outside of the school," Jennifer said, rolling her eyes at that.

"Think back to when you first started teaching, Jennifer, and what things were like at the school then. Voldemort had returned and was starting to gain power. A student had died the year before, and everyone on the faculty were still shaken by those events. It would have been as obvious to the students as anyone who was observing Hogwarts that things were quite unstable," Severus said, Jennifer listening thoughtfully. "Just suppose, for a moment, that whoever the author is happened to be a student at that time. Perhaps they first conceived of this story as a child; attempting to comfort himself or herself by imagining a way out of those unsettling events by giving the students the power to take over and make things right."

"Or it could be someone just using a bit of psychology to the same effect, since children always want more freedom and privileges than they have earned," Jennifer countered.

"Possibly, but I believe reading further will hold the answer to that," Severus decided. "If I'm right and this was written by a one time student of ours, it should become more obvious as we continue reading. Or not, as the case may be," he added, trading Jennifer the book for his glass. Sighing softly, Jennifer sat down to read the next chapter.

* * *

It didn't take long to round up the rest of the Hogwarts gang. Natalie was pacing as she waited for Chuck and Hope to finish their copies, and when they were through, all five of the Willowbys wanted to join Maurice's group as they left to walk to Ambrose's house. Maurice slowed in front of Toby's shop, which had a sign in front window that read, "Closed for the Duration." Maurice heard his name and looked up as Ambrose hurried down the street towards them.

"Your father's gone?" Maurice said.

"Yes, but... not far, I think. Father told us that he was only going to be gone for the summer. I think he must have known something," Ambrose admitted.

"Obviously! And now we can't get supplies if we need it..."

"Sure we can. He told me just before he left that I could open it up for my friends if there was an emergency," Ambrose explained. "Do you want me to open it up?"

"Not just yet. Not until we know if we're panicking unnecessarily or not. We need to get to the castle," Maurice said.

"Corey's shop is probably the fastest way," Beth suggested.

"We can't go that way!" Charles immediately protested.

"He's right, our father would be on us in a minute. Let's go to Honeydukes," Hope said.

"There are too many of us to sneak into the back without anyone noticing," Maurice said. "But at Corey's, nobody will think twice about the five of you bringing a pack of friends along, even this large of a pack."

"Don't worry, he'll let us through," Ambrose assured them, leading the Owls over to the apothecary. Corey looked up curiously as they began to pile in, focusing on Ambrose and Maurice when they approached him.

"We need to borrow your storage basement," Ambrose said quietly.

"All of you?" Corey asked expressionlessly.

"They left something important in the library. I am here to escort them," Ambrose explained.

"Fine, as long as you leave those two here," Corey said, thumbing over at Amber and Destiny.

"Dad!" Amber whined. Destiny went for the doe eyes instead.

"No. Whatever's going on is none of your business just yet, ladies. You know what your grandfather said on that issue," Corey reminded them sternly. "So you may as well grab your aprons and help out until they get back."

"But helping isn't helping!" Amber complained, Corey raising a brow at her. He completely ignored the rest of them going down the basement stairs, instead concentrating on keeping his two youngest out of trouble. But despite his intention to stay out of it, it wasn't long before Corey heard exclamations coming from the basement. Corey sighed.

"Jack, make sure the girls don't go anywhere. Have them fill up the bins," he suggested, slipping down the stairs.

Inside the storage room, the Owls were spread out in front of the new carved oak door partially hidden by one of the shelves. Even though it was open, a thick stone slab blocked the passage.

"That's weird," Corey said, the students looking back at him with a frown. "The castle is on lock down for some reason."

"That's bad, isn't it?" Viorica asked nervously.

"Well, it's not good. Exactly what did you kids leave in the library, anyway? It wasn't lethal, was it?" Corey asked, then heard his name called out. "Hang on," he said, stepping over to the bottom of the stairs. "What is it, Jack? I seem to have my hands full down here."

"It's your sister, sir, Minister Clemmons. She's looking for Maurice and his friends," Jack said.

"Then I can assume this is no longer my business," Corey decided and swept his arm towards the stairs. One by one they all went back up, Alex greeting them one by one from behind the counter until Corey came upstairs and walked over.

"It's all right, Corey, I got this," Alex promised.

"Be my guest, but I want an update later since it seems my kids are wrapped up in whatever this is..." Corey said.

"Will do," Alex agreed, leading them out.

"Not you," Corey said again, grabbing the collars of his two youngest before they could sneak out with the rest.

"We don't ever get to do anything!" Amber complained.

"Fill the bins," Corey told them again, then glanced out the window. Everything was quiet once again in Hogsmeade, for Alex has already keyed the rest of them away.


	20. Siege

Chapter Twenty

Siege

Ambrose, Beth, Max, Cain, and the entire order of the Owls found themselves in a large, elaborately decorated office. Even with so many of them there, there was enough room for them to find seating. Even so, many of the students found themselves focusing on the large, tree-like bird perches that branched erratically out in front of the office's open windows. On the topmost perch sat Radiance, who gazed at the students critically, not happy to have her peace and quiet disturbed by so many noisy beings. She trilled, making her complaints known.

"I am sorry, but this is an emergency after all, Radiance. You can always go for a fly if it gets too be too much," Alex said, then walked over to the desk. "Sorry about this, but I happen to be familiar sitting at the moment. Make sure you watch your step if you move about, please. You don't want to step on a basilisk's tail, trust me," Alex said.

"I take it you know what's going on?" Maurice said.

"I have a feeling that I know about the same as you do," Alex said. "I just got done reading the last Wizards of MC book this morning. I got worried about the last chapter and dashed over to Hogwarts the moment I finished it and found the castle on lock down. After that, I went to find Maurice and heard from Fleur that you were assembling your friends."

"Actually, most of them came to me," Maurice said. "This book was different than any other before it... the characters were the same, but the more they referenced things that have actually been going on at Hogwarts lately, the more real it seemed... and now the castle is under siege just like in the book..."

"Now, hold on there, Uncle Maurice, you might be jumping to conclusions," Alex said. "Don't forget that Hermione was in charge of the castle, and she's an even more avid book reader than I am. She may have locked down the castle on her own to prevent anyone from getting in there."

"True," Maurice realized. "I didn't think about that."

"Is there a way to get in touch with her with the school locked down?" Ambrose asked.

"Yes, by Flame. I tried earlier, but she didn't seem to be in her office. Let me try again," Alex said, going over to the fireplace, which grew brightly when she approached. She tapped her wand in the air and waited, but little happened. "Well, failing that, there is one way into the castle in a lock down. We'll try it with a small group first and go from there," Alex said.

"But what about the curse?" Hope asked. "What if it wasn't Hermione who locked it down and the castle is under siege by faeries like in the book? They cursed the castle, remember?"

"Hope, pardon the pun, but it's important not to read too much into what the book said. We need to be careful not to take it too literally," Alex warned.

"True, but Hope also has a point, Alex," Maurice said. "The book states there is a curse on castle that prevents anyone but children or faeries from entering. If we find out there really is someone besieging the castle, I think it would also be safe to assume there's some sort of curse going on as well."

"Fair enough," Alex said, grabbing a cloak. "Maurice, pick three people to go with you for reconnaissance. The rest of you will wait here until we know the situation. Oh, and don't any of you contact anyone or tell anyone what's going on while you're waiting. I don't want a wide spread panic."

"I'm sure we're not the only ones that read that book. The waiting list alone was impressive," Garvan said.

"Which is another reason we need to find out what's going on now so we know if we have to cook up a story or not as to what's going on," Alex said, getting out a keychain and sorting through them until she found one splattered with paint.

"Ambrose, Beth, Garvan, let's go," Maurice said.

"Hey!" Hope protested.

"Right now we're only going to determine if there's a problem or not. Besides, you ought to be grateful I'm including you students at all at this point," Alex said, then keyed Maurice and his friends to Alicia's. It was then that the rest of the students realized there was no obvious way out of the room.

Alicia had already been peeking out the door expectantly when they arrived, opening it wider when they popped in.

"You didn't say on the shell exactly when your were going to be here," Alicia complained. "I thought it was urgent?"

"Sorry, but I had to pick up some students who were worried about the book as well," Alex explained.

"Really?" Alicia said with surprise.

"She thought I was just imagining things," Alex explained to them.

"Well, it does seem a bit silly to be worried about a children's book just because it mentions a siege on a wizard's school. It's no different than looking under the bed for the first few nights after reading a scary story," Alicia said.

"You haven't read it yet. This is quite different," Alex said.

"Alex is right," Maurice said. "Are you going to help us?"

"Of course I am, but I still think you're over reacting. Where do you want to go?" Alicia asked.

"I want to try to find Hermione first," Alex said.

"Well, I don't have a sketch of her, so how about I just get you close to her office?" Alicia said.

"Hands, everyone," Alex said, and Alicia took hers, leading them into a sketch of Hogwarts she had handy.

It was only a minute or two before Alicia stopped in front of a painting, peering out into a quiet hallway.

"Will this do?"

"Can you get us into her office?" Alex asked.

"I can try, but there's only Demura in there and she gets really miffed at me any time I try that method," Alicia warned, stepping over to the next frame. Much to her surprise, Demura was fast asleep. But while she was still marveling at that fact, the rest of them gasped at what they saw on the other side of the frame. Hermione was sitting at her desk with a quill in hand, apparently scrawling a note; she was completely encased in a magenta-tinted crystal.

"Well, that doesn't look good," Alex said with a sigh, letting the tip of her wand breach the painting surface long enough to cast a detection spell.

"Is she still alive?" Garvan asked.

"I don't know for certain, but it's likely," Alex replied. "The crystal around her is reading as pure wild magic. If it's anything like the Living Stone spell, she is in suspended animation until the curse is broken."

"That's odd. Don't most spells involving time suspension read as Ancient Magic?" Alicia frowned.

"I wonder what she's writing?" Maurice asked.

"Wait, don't try to go out there. We don't know what triggered it," Alex warned.

"If it's like the book, it's not going to affect students," Garvan pointed out. "Someone has to try it. I'll go..."

"No wait, you fool, not until we've determined for sure that she's alive..." Maurice said, but Garvan had been at the end of the hands chain and had been far enough away that he was able to wriggle out before anyone could stop him. He stood there for a moment, watching the hairs on his arms stand up.

"There is some sort of spell going on, but it's not effecting me," Garvan said.

"If you can feel it working, it's also possible that whoever put it there sensed you come in," Alex warned.

"I will come back as soon as I check the note," Garvan said, careful not to touch her. "It's to the Headmaster. Looks like she was writing him to ask him to return to the castle immediately and that she'd explain when he got here. She's got the book out, too... about halfway through it."

"That was probably enough for Hermione. I bet she realized there was something fishy about it before anyone else did," Maurice said.

"Garvan, you'd better get back here and we'll reconnoiter. Maurice, give him a hand up, I don't want to risk finding out if that curse really does affect adults the hard way. We'll have to run more tests."

"Right," Maurice said, reaching out for him. But just as Garvan grabbed his hand, something strange began to happen. The painting itself began to rattle and move around and suddenly picked itself off the wall and began shaking as if it was trying to dump the paintings contents on the floor. Out of desperation, Maurice reached out with both hands in an attempt to pull Garvan out, ignoring the warning call of his name as he began to slip.

Alicia quickly grabbed him to pull him back, but as she did her hand went past the frame and she cried out as crystal started to form around her hand. Immediately, Alex pulled her back with all her strength, managing to get her all the way in before it had a chance to solidify.

"Wow! That was my brush hand!" Alicia exclaimed. Ambrose had managed to keep a hold of Maurice, and somehow managed to pull him back enough that they gained momentum, pulling Garvan in just as Maurice fell backward.

"Is everyone in? Is everyone all right?" Alex asked. The painting clamored to the floor, and it became dark with only a faint light showing between the frame and the floorboard.

"Great, I bet that chipped the gilding," Alicia said. "And do you know what else is odd?"

"What could possibly top that?" Alex said with annoyance.

"Demura is still asleep," Alicia finished. Alex frowned at that.

"Do you think they all might be?" she asked.

"Hard to say, but I'd suppose so. At least, if I were going to try and take over Hogwarts, I'd make sure to put the paintings asleep... at least the ones tied directly to security," Alicia said.

"Well, that's just lovely, that means Professor Rogue is probably asleep as well," Alex said.

"And I think it's safe to say that the curse on the castle is real too," Alicia said dryly, testing her fingers to be safe. "We'd better get Father here as soon as possible."

"Right. Let's all get back to my office then. I suppose you'd better bring Father there for now," Alex said, apparently not all that keen at the idea of letting her Father in her office. The rest of the students looked up in surprise Alex and the others appeared out of the only painting in the room; an early portrait of Alicia.

"How did you do that? Is that a dimensional portal of some sort?" Viorica asked curiously.

"Sort of, I suppose," Alex said.

"Not now, Viorica. It looks like things are just as bad as we thought they were," Maurice said.

"You mean the castle really is under siege?" Hope interrupted with alarm.

"It would appear so," Alex agreed, glancing back at her sister as she stepped out of the frame before turning back to them. "And apparently it has some curses in place to help protect it from people like us trying to break in."

"Like the curse in the book?" Hope said.

"Similar, yes," Maurice said.

"Holy cow! The castle really has been invaded by evil faeries!"

"Now, Hope, we didn't see any faeries at all..."

"True, but there was a lot of wild magic... faerie magic..." Garvan pointed out.

"Yes, but let's not mix fact with conjecture," Alex said, then spotted Alicia standing in the portrait frame, looking quite grim. "One moment," she said, walking over to the frame. "What's wrong?"  
"I can't get to him," Alicia said quietly.

"Oh, no paintings around?" Alex asked.

"Not like that. I can't get to him, I just end up going to Rogue's painting, who, for the record, is definitely asleep, and I couldn't wake him up. I don't know why, but I can't get to him."

"Mum's spare watch?" Alex asked. "Surely you went to Corey's to check."

"Elsewhere," Alicia admitted.

"Well, there is that then, at least," Alex said, sighing softly in relief.

"So what now?" Alicia asked. Alex glanced at her desk. It was clean except for one lone book. She then glanced at the students for a moment thoughtfully, picked up the book, then looked back towards the painting.

"They say all life is a play... maybe in this case it's a book instead," Alex mused. "But the answer is the same. I think we play along."

"That sounds insanely risky," Alicia murmured in a low voice.

"Maybe on the surface, but not if we pull all our resources. We won't be able to eliminate the risks, but I think we can minimize them. But first thing is first. First we need to make sure the whole family is up to date on those books. Alicia grimaced at that, thinking about how much reading she was going to have to do. "I also need to contact grandfather. I'm sure he'll help us figure this out."


	21. Justification

Chapter Twenty-One

Justification

"Do you know who Hanz reminds me of?" Severus asked. He had managed to get far enough ahead of Jennifer that he was starting the third book while she was half-way through the second. Jennifer put a finger on her spot and looked up curiously. "Draco Malfoy."

"Really? You think they've got Draco Malfoy as the first president of the Megalomaniacs Club?" Jennifer said, not as convinced.

"Yes, I think it fits, granted it is an exaggerated version of him, just like everything in these books. I think when you get to this one you'll agree with me, since he starts to mellow out a bit in this one. I'm sure you must recall how he was when you first came to Hogwarts as opposed to when he graduated."

Jennifer turned her book over a moment.

"He was a nightmare, really, that first year... he tested me constantly, trying to find out where I stood on things. So did you, actually," Jennifer said.

"Yes, but for different reasons. I didn't like the idea of Craw's offspring showing up out of the blue when things were starting to come to a head with Voldemort, and I thought Dumbledore's faith in you was extremely premature," Severus said in such a way that Jennifer smirked softly at him. "With Draco, I believe what he was looking for was confirmation. He wanted you to be a follower of Voldemort because he wanted further justification for his own choices in the matter. I think he was starting to question his parent's positions even then, actually. He was looking for validation that he was making the right decisions by following them and Voldemort, to help alleviate any guilt or blame he may have been feeling about the Death Eaters and their involvement in Cedric's death. That is also why he was so quick to turn on Voldemort when it became obvious that Voldemort had little intention of helping his father and was acting behind his back. He no longer had justification for his actions that could be blamed on anyone else but himself. Without that scapegoat to appease his conscience, he felt no other choice but to stand for himself."

"That's very insightful," Jennifer admitted. "You knew him even better than I had thought back then."

"He spent countless hours in my office, Jennifer, and many times he tried to find justification through me. And more often than not, I gave him that justification, unfortunately. One of many student sacrifices I had to make to be certain my cover wasn't comprised," Severus murmured.

"You had no choice," Jennifer said with a gentle smile. "And those students may have had a rough time, but most of them came out of Hogwarts much better than when they came into that school... especially Draco."

"Most," Severus brooded. Jennifer gazed at him steadily. "Yes, I know, we can't save them all, and I really have learned to accept that for the most part. It is simply that these books are bringing back memories and picking at old wounds."

"Then concentrate on the more ridiculous parts, such as some of the attempts these students are making trying to take over the school or the exaggerated interactions," Jennifer suggested. "I'm in the middle of reading about the Wizard's Duel between Miss Young and Professor Frump."

"You would find that amusing. I remember how many times Draco attempted to goad us into sparring as well..."

"I hope Miss Young wins," Jennifer said, refusing to let Severus get on that subject again.

"Prepare to be disappointed..."

"Hey, no spoilers!" Jennifer snapped, turning back to her book. But a few lines later she growled.

"They were interrupted!" she exclaimed.

"You should be used to that by now. Still, I wouldn't worry about it. The students will return from Christmas to find quite a shock..."

"Severus, you are doing it again! That's it, I'm taking the lead on reading. Put that book down and get us some drinks and snacks," she ordered. Severus sneered at that but dutifully put his snake bookmark back in place.

"It really isn't a spoiler, you know," he explained, getting up. "Young and Frump fighting constantly through the first half of the book is more than just a plot device to give the MC a reason to try and take over the school again. They were fighting because we spent the better half of the term fighting with each other in reality as well. You were constantly angry with me for taking too many chances, and I was constantly angry with you for getting involved when I asked you not to, including that incident during Halloween when you tried to "save me," and you would have gotten killed if Audi and your father hadn't stepped in when they had."

"I remember that," Jennifer said, flipping back through pages. "Although in here they make it seem like a good against evil... with you being the evil," she teased.

"I don't doubt that quite a number of students must have seen it that way, considering none of them knew the details of any of that. Besides that, none of the incidents that the author based on real events are exactly as they happened. They are exaggerated incidents from the students' points of view. And even though Hermione, Harry, and Ron were well informed about what was going on that year, none of the other students knew anything other than what the papers were telling them about the Ivory Skull. Which is why, of course, it comes as such a shock to them when they come back from Christmas holiday to find out that Young and Frump are engaged. I found the incident extremely amusing."

"Why, what happens?" Jennifer asked, and he raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You did say no spoilers," he reminded her. Jennifer scrunched up her face. "And you'll find the actions of the MC after the announcement is quite fictional."

Jennifer fiercely started reading, quite determined to get caught up despite his obvious lure to get her to do just that. When she did catch up, she couldn't help but laugh, as the MC dismantled Frump's Potion Lab of Death in hopes to find out what potion he had used to persuade her. But in the end, their attempts had been for nothing; they learned by the end of the book that she was blackmailed to save her father from certain doom.

* * *

Thomas Craw looked over the contents of his suitcase thoughtfully, making certain he had everything. Snapping his fingers, he tossed his newest TV magazine and several newspapers before snapping it shut.

"Master Craw?" called out Colette's voice.

"Come on out, Colette," Thomas said. Colette came out, looking quite worried. He didn't typically ask her to appear. Thomas was quick to notice her reaction, but his expression didn't lose his somber expression. "It's all right, Colette," he said gruffly. "What was it that you needed?"

"Mistress Craw asks if you would come down to the parlor, Master Thomas," Colette explained. "Minister Clemmons and Master Maurice wish to speak to you and say it's urgent."

"I don't suppose you could stall for ten more minutes so I can sneak out the back?" Thomas said with annoyance, Colette frowned unsurely. "Never mind, I'll deal with it," he decided, picking up his suitcase.

"Do you want me to get that?" Colette asked.

"No, I've got it," Thomas said, walking towards the door.

"Oh, but Master Thomas dropped a handkerchief, monsieur. It didn't get in the case," Colette said, picking it up and holding it out for him.

"Really?" Thomas said, looking at it. "Nope, not mine. Must be yours," he said handing it to her. Colette looked at it, then gazed at him unsurely. "Do with it what you will, it's up to you," he said with a shrug, walking out the door. Colette stared hard after him before disappearing again.

Alex and Maurice heard his footsteps and looked up as he walked down the hallway, both of them blinking in surprise to see the suitcase.

"Good, glad you're here, Maurice. I needed to talk to you."

"Are you going somewhere?" Alex demanded.

"I've decided to take Fleur and Quintin on a holiday," he explained. "Hyperion Festival. Big deal up north this time of year. Maurice, you and Beth can handle things here, right?"

"You can't go right now!" Alex cried out in disbelief. "Hogwarts is under siege! There's a curse..."

"Sorry, not my jurisdiction. Talk to your Father," he suggested. "I haven't taken any paid days since the games, and I still have over a few months worth of holiday saved up, so I figured I'd use one of them. Besides, it'll get Quintin out of the line of fire if there is something going on. Fleur, are you packed?"

"Thomas, to be honest, I did not think you were being serious..."

"Colette can help, Mistress," Colette's voice called up.

"It's up to you," Thomas shrugged, then gestured to Quintin. "I'm taking him ahead to get some lunch. Can you meet us at the cafe?"

"You're really serious about this!" Alex said, still in shock. "Grandfather..."

"Alex, you're the Minister of Mysteries, for craters sake! Can't you handle it?" Thomas snapped.

"Craters!" Quintin agreed supportively.

"Er... do me a favor and don't tell your Mother he said that. See you in a few weeks," Thomas said, taking Quintin's hand and walking into the floo. "Port station!" said his muffled voice, followed by a puff of powder before the two of them disappeared.

"Am I the only one who thinks that Grandfather was acting entirely out of character?" Alex asked. "Maurice, when was the last time your father went on an extended holiday?"

"Prison, perhaps?" Maurice suggested.

"That doesn't count," Alex said. "I just don't understand why everyone who can help us suddenly wants to go on holiday!"

"Did you talk to Draco?"

"He said talk to my father and until then I'm in charge," Alex said. "And now that Grandfather has left, I suppose that's official now. And since I can't go in..." she glanced at Maurice. "I guess we're going with my original plan, Hanz."

"Fine. But I'm not playing Hanz," Maurice said firmly, walking to his room to pack his Cloak Chest.


	22. Interns of Mysteries

Chapter Twenty-Two

Interns of Mysteries

"I know who Jeran is!" Jennifer declared after the Wizards of MC tied him up to keep him from getting to the Potion Lab to tell Frump what they were up to. "Jeran is Corey!"

"Took you that long, did it?" Severus said, lighting all the lanterns around the salon so they would have enough light to keep reading.

"You can hardly blame me, considering how this character was written," Jennifer said. "He's conceited, boisterous, cocky, selfish, and he's always going to Frump to get his classmates into trouble. Corey wasn't like that at all!" Severus looked up from his book and stared at her. "What do you mean he was like that?" she demanded when she saw his expression.

"Corey is nothing like that now, Jennifer, but surely you recall just how hard he was to handle when he first came to Hogwarts," Severus reminded her.

"He just had a lot of energy..."

"A lot of energy that nearly got him killed on several occasions... not to mention that nasty battle he had with Draco Malfoy. It went as far as Malfoy attempting to get him to drink a nasty potion, in fact, after Corey dabbled with some invisibility potions so that Malfoy would get caught sneaking into the festival," Severus said. Jennifer chuckled.

"I do remember that. Although to be honest, I try not to think of that year too much," Jennifer admitted.

"Corey changed a great deal after that year... mostly because of losing his parents. Some of it was also our influence. When we adopted him, we put him on a very strict leash to keep his behavior from getting too far out of hand. But exaggerated writing or no, Corey was all of those things. I am also fairly certain that students who weren't close to him didn't see the changes afterwards like his friends did," Severus said.

"You don't suppose Draco wrote this, do you?" Jennifer asked with a frown.

"No, certainly not. If he had written it, he wouldn't have gone under any sort of nom de plume. There are also various times in the first three books that shows him in too negative of a light for me to believe that he is behind it. However, I wouldn't be surprised if a Slytherin were the author."

"I'd think it's more likely to be one of the other houses, considering how much they seem to dislike Frump," Jennifer pointed out. "In many ways, he ends up being the main antagonist considering he's always getting in the way of all of their attempts to take over, so to speak."

"An antihero is still a hero of sorts," Severus said. "Besides, obviously they can't actually succeed in taking over the castle, because if that happened the book series would end."

"True," Jennifer agreed with a laugh. "To be honest, whoever did write this made the students way too overpowered. I know we've had some very powerful and crafty students over the years, including our own children. But I highly doubt any group of students could truly take over the school."

* * *

"Who all has chest cloaks?" Maurice asked. Garvan, Natalie and Ambrose raised their hands.

"Has anyone not given me their permission slips?" Alex asked, counting them carefully.

"I have mine, but all it asks for is permission to spend the summer working for the Ministry of Magic," Viorica said critically, handing it over. "For some reason I don't think this is what my parents had in mind. They thought I was getting an internship."

"So it is, it's an internship for the Mysteries department," Alex said calmly, grabbing one from Harvey as well. "I didn't ask for these to appease your parents. I did it to save my ass if Draco or my Father hears about it. My department already has all sorts of immunities as well as limited liability in case of injury or death," she explained. Hadrian and Leu looked worriedly at one another. "And on that reminder, if anyone wants to stay here and help me research they're more than welcome."

"I suppose I'll have to stay," Beth sighed. "It kind of stinks to be older than most of my friends."

"I remember the feeling," Alex said with a nod. "Anyone else? I have other agents helping, of course, but more hands are always welcome."

"What about Aunt Anna? She's good at this sort of thing," Leu suggested.

"I tried that, but it seems she's off with Vallid and Zoe somewhere," Alex said. "And the suspicious thing about that was she left Sirius behind. And even more suspicious, he was sober."

"That is definitely suspicious," Maurice agreed. "Just what do they know that we don't?"

"I have someone working on that one, but I don't think it's a good idea to wait any longer on intelligence. Hogwarts is filled with lots of magic... dangerous magic, and with the paintings asleep the security around those items is compromised. Maurice, do you remember what your teams have to do?" Alex asked.

"First we have to establish contact with Noah, Janus, and Icarus, to find out the state of security and to get the paintings awake," Maurice said, Alex nodding and holding up a second finger. "Second, we use the password you gave us to get into Father's office and secure the Hat. Third, we use Sagitarri's keys to break into the classrooms to secure the Cauldron, as well as to gather any supplies that we need for whatever comes up. Fourth, we unlock the library and make certain its security is activated. Fifth, we need to find out what spells are keeping the gargoyles, the Elf Willow, and the Kraken from doing their jobs and free them if possible. And last... assuming that we haven't run into any problems up until that point, we find out just who or what it is that has taken over the castle. If anyone in our team gets into trouble and it is unsafe to go after them, we are to leave immediately and report our progress."

"You got your teams and team leaders figured out?" Alex asked.

"Team one," Maurice said. Behind him stood Max, Cain, Keir, Harvey, and Viorica.

"Two," Leu said, glancing beside him. Kim, Paula, Dasher and Diana were with him.

"Three," Natalie said, with Garvan, Hope, Chuck, Chris, and Amy.

"And Four," Ambrose said with Hadrian, Halle, Karen and Summer.

"Good," Alex said, handing the Hogwarts keys to Natalie. "I know most of you are some of the top students in Hogwarts. I want to you use every bit of knowledge you have about these books to your advantage when you go in there, but at the same time, always remember that you are first and foremost members of Hogwarts, students or otherwise. You need to use that fact to your advantage as well. That said, I want it understood that as interns of the Ministry, I have obligations to keep you safe, and on a mission that responsibility passes onto you. To put it another way, you are ordered to get out if you feel that your own safety is compromised. I will give you each a key to a private room in the Coventry wing of St. Mungo's, where I will have a detail waiting in case of emergency. I expect you to use them when necessary. There are no heroes in the Ministry of Magic... that's someone else's job. Our job is to get in and get out in one piece. Also, for those of you planning on being Aurors, any mishaps will be reported to the Auror department if my orders aren't followed to the letter, so please don't screw it up trying to play hero before you're trained to do so. Is that quite understood?" She met each witch and wizard's gaze individually until she got a nod. "Good. Perform your jobs, then." Alex said. "Alicia, if you'll do the honors?"

"Right," Alicia said. Alex handed each team a set of keys as they left to their assigned entry points. Finally the last one left and it was quiet for a moment with Alex staring at the painting they had left from.

"If I messed this up, my parents aren't likely to forgive me," Alex said to herself. But Radiance answered with a warble of confidence, Rasputin snorting in kind. "Let's just hope you're right then," she said. She walked over to the desk and stared at the book thoughtfully, wondering if she oughtn't read through it again to see if there was something she had missed.

* * *

Natalie and her team appeared in the hut next to the table, looking around disoriented. The hearth was empty as well as the open cabinets, and there were no sounds except for birds in the Dark Forest.

"Is there anyone on the whole bloody staff that didn't go on holiday this year?" Garvan asked. Hope snickered.

"Crete, I think Alex said," Natalie replied. "There's a door into the castle hospital ward from his office," she explained, looking for the right key. Suddenly the candles flickered on, and then flickered on and off erratically.

"What the hell was that?" Chris asked.

"Wait, I know this one," Hope said, holding up a finger. "Wild magic detectors! Grandfather mentioned them at dinner once. They put them in to keep track of Ciardoth. Ambrose set them off once."

"I seriously doubt that was Ambrose, especially since I never noticed any weird light flicker like that since he's been assistant," Garvan said.

"We knew there was wild magic going on here already, remember? The curse is made from wild magic," Natalie said.

"True, but maybe we can use the detectors to know when they're coming near us... or at least know when they're up to something," Hope said.

"Right. We'll watch the lights," Natalie agreed, trying a key. "This is it. And I bet the one next to it is for the other door."

"Anyone not have chameleon powder?" Chuck offered.

"I could use some," Amy admitted, and Chuck handed her a phial.

"I don't need it," Garvan said, pulling his hood up and immediately disappearing.

"You got an Invisible Cloak too? I thought you had a chest cloak!" Hope said in disbelief.

"Yep. It's the same cloak, actually, my grandfather gave it to me," Garvan's voice said. "It doesn't have those cool potion holders like Natalie's does."

"Actually, this is my father's cloak, but it is handy," Natalie admitted, turning the lock to make sure it worked. "Dust up, we're going in. First stop after this one is the boathouse, and then to the tree."

"Right-o. It's not far from here," Hope said, and their team hurried off to towards the lake.

But before they even arrived, the group slowed cautiously, getting out their wands as they approached. Then, they found themselves staring at it rather than doing anything, for the entire lake was covered with a layer of crystal.

"It could be me," Garvan said, "But I think the idea of freeing the Krakens to 'do their job' is not going to happen."

"So. Tree next?" Natalie said slowly, the others turning away from the lake in response. But none of them were very surprised to find the Elf Willow was in a similar state.

* * *

Leu's team was let down inside the Ravenclaw common room, which was dark but otherwise undisturbed.

"Noah?" Leu called out.

"Check your room," Kim suggested, and Leu nodded, hurrying up to the dorm and opening it, but all was still.

"Noah?" Leu asked again, then came back downstairs. "He doesn't seem to be here. Let's go."

"Give me a minute," Dasher said with his ear up against the door, listening. "All right, the hallway

seems to be clear."

"It's just the next door over," Leu said, peeking out cautiously despite Dasher's reassurances. He also noticed that Dasher had a dagger out.

"Don't worry, I got your back," Dasher said. Deciding that he probably didn't mean that literally, Leu carefully stepped out and over to the nursery door.

"I plead the fifth," Leu recited and the door clicked. He opened it far enough for Dasher and the others step in.

"What a lovely room!" Paula said. "Look, a painting! It's Professor Craw!" Paula said. But the portrait was slumped over a chair, asleep. "Should we try waking her up?"

"First thing's first," Leu said, opening the door and stepping into the Headmaster's Study. Only the sound of the paintings snoring could be heard.

"There it is," Leu said, picking up the Sorting Hat.

"Isn't this a bit too easy?" Kim asked. "Waltzing into the Headmaster's Study without anyone stopping us? If I were going to take over a school, I'd be setting up shop here."

"She has a point. Where's the person who cast that curse?" Paula asked.

"I don't know and right now I'm just going to follow orders," Leu said. "Here, Paula, you watch the Sorting Hat. If we get stopped by anyone, I want you to take the key back so at least the Hat is safe."

"Right," Paula agreed, taking it.

"So what about those paintings? Think there's a way of waking them up?" Dasher asked. but several minutes of poking, gentle frame shaking, and noise cues proved ineffective.

"Alex seemed sure it was a spell or something, keeping them asleep," Leu said, then paused when there was a insistent flicker of lights. "I don't feel safe here. Let's head back towards the Ravenclaw rooms and try one of those paintings instead."

"Works for me," Kim agreed more than a bit nervous about the lights as well.

"I don't think we are alone," Diana said evenly.

"I know, that's why we need to get going," Leu said, leading them back through to the nursery before the lights flickered again.

* * *

Ambrose slipped out of the painting then helped all of the others step down and into the library.

"Karen and I will watch the door to the hall," Summer suggested.

"Probably not a bad idea. Hadrian, why don't you secure the Owl Room?" Ambrose suggested. "There are a few things I need to take care of in here before I trigger the security system."

"I don't suppose we can go to the Astrology Tower after this?" Halle asked, as Ambrose first searched behind the desk then went towards the Owl Room. "That counts as a classroom, right?"

"I think I'd prefer to go to the North Tower to check on Professor Ravenclaw," Ambrose said, unlocking a book on one of the close shelves. Opening the book, he pulled a key out. "He may have some insight into who's cursed the castle... not to mention validate any star charts you've been seeing, since he has some expertise in that as well."

"True," Halle agreed, following him through the restricted section to the faculty library.

"Wait outside the door, Halle, but keep a wand out," Ambrose said.

"All right," she said with a sigh. "Although it I hope it doesn't come down to me defending us, because Defense is definitely not my strongest subject."

Ambrose strode over to the crystal in the center and uncovered it, momentarily worried that Lady Viviane would once again show herself to find out what he was up to. But this time, she didn't seem to be around.

"Who has taken over the castle?" Ambrose asked the crystal. Ambrose waited for a while for a response, but nothing seemed to happen. Instead, it showed him a number of empty halls and rooms in a quiet castle. "All right, never mind that question, then... how do we take back the castle from whoever cursed it?" This time the crystal glowed, creating an image of a spinning wheel; attached to the spinning wheel was the Distaff of Disruption wrapped with flax ready to be spun. A moment later, it faded. "That's it? That's all the hint we get?"

"Ambrose? Everything looks all right in the store room and Boulderdash's room. All of his traps seem to be as he left them, " Hadrian called from the doorway.

"Hang on, I'm coming back out," Ambrose said, covering the crystal and stepping back into the main library, carefully locking the door. "Any sign of anyone?"

"No, but the lights flickered strangely a few minutes ago," Hadrian said. Ambrose squinted.

"Really? How strong did they flicker?"

"Well, it was noticeable enough, especially considering most of the candles and lanterns weren't lit until that happened," Hadrian said. Growing concerned, Ambrose went over to the door to see that Summer and Karen seemed unusually nervous, both of them with their wands out.

"Anything?" Ambrose asked.

"Yes, all the lights in the hall lit up and flickered for a while... but then it got quiet again," Karen reported.

"Wild Magic detectors. We're being watched," Ambrose said.

"Should we go back to Alex?" Summer asked anxiously. Ambrose pondered it for a moment, thinking about what the crystal had shown.

"I used a divination device while I was in the staff library and it showed an empty castle. If there's a witch or wizard behind the curse on the castle, it's possible that there aren't any exceptions to the age restriction, and they can't get in here either," Ambrose said. "Come on."

"Hang on, what do you mean if?" Karen asked. "Do you mean it could be something other than human after all?"

"But if it restricts the caster from coming in here, why cast it?" Halle asked at the same time.

"Both good questions," Ambrose said. "But if the vision is right, I think I know the answer... come on. Let's check on Professor Ravenclaw so we can report back."

* * *

"Are you sure you know how to operate this thing?" Viorica asked critically as Maurice fiddled with the fireplace in the Potion Master's office. They had heard some grinding as he played with the carved levers on top, but the iron door across the fireplace was still closed.

"I'm fairly certain that I successfully moved the Cauldron to this room... the door is probably some extra security they put in while they're away from the castle. We'll need to figure out how to override it," Maurice decided, crouching down. "It looks rather like one I've seen in the Ministry... maybe it was something they asked to be put in?"

"Does it matter?" Keir asked.

"If it's a standard issue Ministry protection gate, I bet I can override it," Max said with a grin.

"Let me check for family curses before you do that," Maurice suggested, getting out his wand.

"Oh... good point," Max said as Maurice ran a series of tests. Uncovering a hidden button, Maurice pushed it only to discover there was a small needle inside.

"Okay, have at it, glad I checked first," Maurice said, sucking his finger.

"What would have happened if he had tried it?" Keir wondered. Maurice shrugged.

"Something particularly nasty, I would imagine," Cain ventured. "But probably not lethal, considering Professor Craw would take into account a student might deal fiddle with it."

"There's a comforting thought," Viorica said, then heard a click. "What, have you got it already?"

"Easily," Max said. "Last year's model, using an old spell extension. Everything else we've had to dispel to get in here was much more secure, really."

"Typical," Cain snorted as they watched Maurice minimize the Cauldron and pull it out, stuffing it in his cloak.

"Now, let's get out of here and trigger breach security," Maurice said, hurrying towards the door.

"Just how many different security plans are there in this place?" Harvey asked curiously.

"Only my sister and the Headmaster knows that," Maurice admitted. "But it gets added to constantly. Every time my brother-in-law thinks of another way the castle can be put in danger, he puts in something else."

"In that case, it's positively incredible that anyone managed to breach this castle at all," Harvey said.

"Yes," Maurice said, thinking about it thoughtfully. "It is incredible at that. I wonder what it means?"

Having no idea what Maurice was thinking, the others simply shrugged and followed him out, watching as Maurice activated the Freeze Frame in the room then sunk it into the wall to prevent anyone else from turning it off.

"There. Let's head to the secret passages," Maurice said. "We'll check Conspiracies for Janus and the Baron."

"It's strange that we haven't run into any ghosts yet," Keir said. "After what happened during the games, I'd think they'd be all up in arms over this."

"Keir's definitely got a point," Cain said. "Why hasn't Janus already come floating up in here to confide in his favorite descendant?" Maurice frowned at that, crossing the hall instead of heading for the passage entrance.

"Let's check the Memoriatorium," Maurice said.

"What's a Memoriatorium?" Viorica asked.

"It's the castle crypt," Maurice said.

"What, like the Crypt of the Restless Souls?" Viorica asked with a frown.

"Yes, exactly," Maurice said. Harvey stopped short.

"I don't want to go in there!" Harvey exclaimed loud enough that Max and Cain shushed him and reminded him to keep it down.

"It's not like we're actually trying to take over the castle, Harvey... well, we are, but I mean it's not like there's a reason the ghosts would try to stop us or anything," Max said.

"It's not as bad as you think. It's just a room with chests and drawers filled with the remains of the castle ghosts, and while it's true some of the ghosts do frequent the place, but it's no scarier than our Potion Lab is compared to the Potion Lab of Death," Maurice explained, pausing at the heavy stone door and waving his wand. Then, he frowned. "There's definitely a different spell warding the door than I've seen on here before. Cain?"

Cain got out his wand and ran some identification spells.

"All I'm getting is a reading of Wild Magic and nothing else. It doesn't seem to be any sort of formal spell at all just a... barrier of some kind," Cain said.

"I'm not getting anything either," Maurice admitted.

"How can there be a magical wall without a spell attached?" Viorica asked.

"While we have a lot of spells based off of Wild Magic, Wild Magic in its true state is an instinctual magic, so it wouldn't necessarily have a spell attached," Maurice explained. "I'm betting that wall is keeping the ghosts interned within the Memoriatorium from wandering past it... rather like the ward that was keeping Bethia in that one section below the castle."

"Only this one doesn't have an actual seal that can be dispelled," Cain said.

"That does explain why we haven't seen any ghosts yet," Max said. "You have to admit whoever did this was thorough. No adults, no paintings, no ghosts to protect the castle. What's left?"

"Gargoyles?" Harvey suggested.

"The gargoyles will guard the doors they are assigned to, but they won't do anything else unless Janus or Severus order them to," Maurice said. "Let's finish securing Conspiracies and meet up with the others. I have a feeling she's going to want to come up with a new plan after what we've found."

"And didn't find," Keir added as they stepped into the secret passage.


End file.
